The use of public parks in the City by large groups causes wear
and tear on the turf, park equipment, and facilities, and it requires
staff time to provide coordination. Additional supplies, restroom
cleaning and trash service are required. Such uses can subject neighboring
residents to excessive noise and traffic, particularly when the park
is small or use is particularly intense. Groups wishing to use a park
sometimes find that their use is in conflict with that of another
group, and on occasion, group use is so intense that casual use by
families and individuals, which is one of the principal purposes of
the parks, is not possible. Because the parks are attractive and well
maintained, their use is intensifying, particularly for such activities
as employee picnics, by groups from other cities. These groups do
not contribute to the maintenance of the parks through the payment
of property taxes and assessments. If the City does not regulate the
intensity of group use of its parks, and provide for the payment of
fees where appropriate, it will not be able to maintain the very qualities
in its parks that make them attractive.
(94-15)
For purposes of this chapter the following words and phrases
shall have the meanings respectively ascribed to them below:
means an organized picnic, exhibit, show, class, or similar
gathering at which food is served, or for which the group brings to
the park furniture and equipment such as tables, booths, tents or
play equipment. It does not include City-sponsored or co-sponsored
events. A group event shall be considered Claremont-based if the applicant
is a City resident, a business or school located in the City, or a
nonprofit community organization, a majority of whose member or board
are City residents, or which provides services to a significant number
of City residents on a continuing basis. All other group events shall
be considered nonresident group events.
means the Director of Human Services or any person designated
by the City Manager or the Director of Human Services to perform the
director's duties under this chapter.
(14-07)
No group of fifty or more individuals shall use a public park
for a group event without first obtaining a park permit from the Human
Services Director.
(14-07)
Applications for group event permits shall be made in writing
on forms provided by the Human Services Director, and shall be filed
with the Human Services Director together with such application fees
as may be established from time to time by resolution of the City
Council. The application shall accurately identify the applicant,
the nature of the event, the preferred date, time and location, the
attendance at it, the activities proposed, and any furniture, equipment,
banners, or sound amplification proposed, together with such other
information as the Human Services Director shall determine is necessary
to determine if the application should be issued under the standards
of this chapter.
(14-07)
A.
The
City Council shall, by resolution, establish time limits within which
applications must be filed or reservations made, establishing and
designating those portions of public parks for which reservations
and permits shall be allowed or required for group events, setting
insurance requirements, setting priorities among categories of City-based
and nonresident group events, length of time for which an area may
be reserved, and otherwise establishing the procedures and standards
for group events. No park may be entirely reserved for group events.
B.
The
Human Services Department shall provide notice to owners of property
within three hundred feet of any public park when the Human Services
Department approves any park use by any group of three hundred or
more or by any group which wishes to use amplified sound.
C.
The
Human Services Director shall issue a group event permit upon determining
that the proposed group event can be accommodated at the time and
date requested, and at a location in which it can take place without
damaging the park landscaping and equipment, overloading any restroom
and other facilities, conflicting with other events, or creating traffic
congestion or excessive noise in the neighborhood. In allocating sites
for group events, the director shall consider both the impact of the
particular group event and the cumulative impact of events in that
location. The permit shall be issued with such conditions as are necessary
to carry out the intent of this chapter, and may include a requirement
that City staff be present during the event. Equipment and activities
that may damage the park or adversely impact the neighborhood may
be prohibited. While applicants may designate a preferred location,
the decision as to which site may be used shall be made by the Human
Services Director.
D.
A permit shall be denied if the findings of subsection C of this section cannot be made, and it may be denied if, within the past two years, the applicant or the group has failed to abide by the terms of a previously issued permit, or has otherwise violated the provisions of this title.
E.
The
Human Services Director's decision may be appealed to the Community
and Human Services Commission by filing an appeal, in writing, with
the Human Services Department within the time limits established by
resolution of the City Council.
(00-06; 12-04; 14-07)
The City Council shall from time to time, by resolution, set
the application fee for group event permits and the park use fee for
group event permits. Such fees shall not exceed the reasonable costs
of providing the services. Fee for nonresident group events shall
reflect the fact that nonresident groups do not contribute to the
support of the City's public parks through the payment of real property
taxes and assessments.
(94-15)
This chapter shall only apply in parks where signs are erected
advising of the requirement of permits for group events.
(94-15)
