[Adopted as Ch. VI, Art. 11; amended 8-12-1996 by Ord. No. 96-199]
This article shall be known and may be cited
as the "Parade and Public Assembly Ordinance of the City of Bangor."
As used in this article, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
CHIEF OF POLICE
The person holding appointment as the City of Bangor Chief
of Police or any other person actually performing duties as the City
of Bangor Chief of Police on an acting, temporary or interim basis.
MARCH
Any organized movement of persons in vehicles or on foot
along a definite route or from one point to another, other than for
ordinary transportation purposes.
PARADE
Any march, demonstration or motorcade consisting of persons,
animals or vehicles or a combination thereof upon the public streets,
parks or sidewalks within the City that interferes with or has a tendency
to interfere with the normal flow or regulation of vehicular or pedestrian
traffic or that interferes with or has a tendency to interfere with
access of any person to public or private premises.
PERSON
Any natural person, firm, partnership, association, corporation,
company or organization of any kind.
PUBLIC ASSEMBLY
Any meeting, demonstration, picket line or rally of three
or more persons for a common purpose, as a result of prior planning,
upon the public streets, parks or sidewalks of the City that interferes
with or has a tendency to interfere with the normal flow or regulation
of pedestrian or vehicular traffic or that interferes with or has
a tendency to interfere with access of any person to public or private
premises.
SIDEWALK
Any area, way or bridge set aside or open to the general
public for purposes of pedestrian traffic, whether or not it is paved.
STREET
Any area, way or bridge set aside or open to the general
public for purposes of vehicular traffic, including any berm, shoulder,
parkway, right-of-way, traffic island or median strip thereof.
No person shall engage in, participate in, aid,
form, start or conduct any parade or public assembly on any public
street, park or sidewalk unless a permit is first obtained for that
purpose from the Chief of Police.
The Chief of Police shall uniformly consider
each application upon its merits and shall not discriminate in granting
or denying permits under this article based upon political, religious,
ethnic, race, disability, sexual orientation or gender-related grounds
or based upon the content of any message sought to be disseminated
by the applicant, organizers or sponsors of the event.
The Chief of Police shall act promptly upon
a timely filed application for a parade or public assembly permit
but in no event shall grant or deny a permit less than 48 hours prior
to the event. If the Chief of Police disapproves the application,
they shall notify the applicant either by personal delivery or certified
mail at least 48 hours prior to the event of their action and state
the reasons for denial.
Immediately upon the issuance of a parade or
public assembly permit, the Chief of Police shall send a copy thereof
to the following:
D. The Director of the City's Department of Public Works.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. I)]
E. The manager or responsible head of each public transportation
utility, the regular routes of whose vehicles will be affected by
the route of the proposed parade or public assembly.
F. To the extent practicable, the owner or occupants
of any premises along the parade route or adjacent to the permitted
location of the public assembly who may be inconvenienced by the parade
or assembly. Such notice may be given by general notice, e.g., by
published notice of a parade route, whenever individual notice to
affected property owners or occupants is impracticable due to the
number of such persons or time constraints.
G. Any resident of the City who requests notice of issuance
of a parade permit in a specific area. If the resident requests such
notice, the Police Chief or designee shall provide the resident with
a copy of each such permit at the time the permit is issued. Requests
for individual notice under this subsection must be renewed annually.
Each parade or public assembly permit shall
state the following information:
A. Starting and approximate ending time.
B. Minimum speed of parade units.
C. Maximum speed of parade units.
D. Maximum interval of space to be maintained between
parade units.
E. The portions of the streets that may be occupied by
the parade or public assembly.
F. The maximum length of the parade in miles or fractions
thereof.
G. Such other information as the Chief of Police shall
find necessary to the enforcement of this article.
The following prohibitions shall apply to all
parades and public assemblies. It shall be a violation of this article
for:
A. Any person to stage, present or conduct any parade
or public assembly without first having obtained a permit as herein
provided.
B. Any person to participate in a parade or public assembly
for which the person knows a permit has not been granted.
C. Any person in charge of, or responsible for the conduct
of, a duly licensed parade or public assembly to knowingly fail to
comply with any condition of the permit.
D. Any person to engage in any parade or public assembly
activity that would constitute a substantial hazard to the public
safety or that would materially interfere with or endanger the public
peace or rights of residents to the quiet and peaceful enjoyment of
their property.
E. Any person participating in any parade or public assembly
to carry or possess any length of metal, lumber, wood or similar material
for purposes of displaying a sign, poster, plaque or notice, unless
such object is 1/2 inch or less in thickness and two inches or less
in width, or, if not generally rectangular in shape, such object shall
not exceed 3/4 inch in its thickest dimension.
F. Any person to carry any sign, poster, plaque or notice, whether or not mounted on a length of material as specified in Subsection
E of this section, unless such sign, poster, plaque or notice is constructed or made of a cloth, paper or cardboard material.
G. Any person participating in a parade or public assembly to utilize sound-amplification equipment at decibel levels that exceed those limits set by Chapter
194, Noise, Article
I, of the Code of the City of Bangor.
H. Any person participating in a parade or public assembly
to ride, drive or cause to be ridden or driven any animal or any animal-drawn
vehicle upon any public street, unless specifically authorized by
the permit.
The Chief of Police shall have the authority
to revoke a parade or public assembly permit instantly upon violation
of the conditions or standards for issuance as set forth in this article
or when a public emergency arises where the police resources required
for that emergency are so great that deployment of police services
for the parade or public assembly would have an immediate and adverse
effect upon the welfare and safety of persons or property.
Any person, firm or corporation convicted of
violating any of the provisions of this article shall be fined in
an amount not exceeding $100. The maximum fine shall be increased
to $500 for each repeat offense within a one-year period. Each day's
violation for which a separate citation is issued shall constitute
a separate offense.
[Adopted as Ch. VI, Art. 11-A; amended 8-12-1996 by Ord. No. 96-318]
As used in this article, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
PERSON
Any natural person, firm, partnership, association, corporation,
company or organization of any kind.
PICKET
One or more persons stationed, assembled, gathered, standing,
marching, demonstrating or patrolling outside of a building or other
fixed location carrying or displaying signs, banners, posters or photographs
or distributing written, graphic or printed information about the
fixed location or activities or persons therein or utilizing any sound-amplification
device to communicate such information.
RESIDENCE OR DWELLING
Any premises containing a permanent building used by its
occupants for nontransient residential use as a primary use. The term
"residence or dwelling" includes apartments and apartment complexes.
The term "residence or dwelling" does not include any building or
premises that is regularly open to members of the general public as
a place of business utilized as such by its occupants.
SIDEWALK
Any area, way or bridge set aside or open to the general
public for purposes of pedestrian traffic, whether or not it is paved.
SOUND-AMPLIFICATION DEVICE
Any electrical or mechanical device capable of amplifying
and projecting ambient, spoken, recorded or other sound. The term
includes, without limitation, loudspeakers, megaphones, microphone
systems and sound trucks.
STREET
Any area, way or bridge set aside or open to the general
public for purposes of vehicular traffic, including any berm, shoulder,
parkway, right-of-way, traffic island or median strip thereof.
TARGETED
Activity that is directed at a particular residence or dwelling
or the occupants thereof, including but not limited to the following
activities:
A.
Naming an occupant of the targeted residence
or dwelling in signs, banners, posters or written or printed information
carried, displayed or distributed by one or more picketers.
B.
Protesting a specific occupation or activity
duly engaged in by an occupant of the targeted residence or dwelling.
C.
Inviting of the public to confront an occupant
of the targeted residence or dwelling concerning past or prospective
conduct, acts or omissions to act by the resident concerned.
D.
Intentionally obstructing or making more difficult
an occupant's ingress to or egress from the targeted residence or
dwelling.
Any person, firm or corporation convicted of
violating this article shall be fined in an amount not exceeding $100.
The maximum fine shall be increased to $500 for each repeat offense
within a one-year period. Each day's violation for which a separate
citation is issued shall constitute a separate offense.