[HISTORY: Adopted by the Common Council of the City of Burlington 1-5-1988 by Ord. No. 1203(25) as §§ 12.07, 12.08, 12.085, 12.13 and 12.30 of the 1988 Code. Amendments noted where applicable.]
A. 
License required. No person shall conduct, exhibit, operate or maintain within the City any circus, caravan, carnival, play, game, contest, theatrical performance, theater, concert, carousel, athletic event, shooting gallery of any kind or any other public amusement or show or any other exhibition to which admission may be had by the payment of a fee or by the purchase, possession or presentation of a ticket or token obtained for money or other valuable consideration, or in which a charge is made indirectly for admittance, unless a license therefor shall be obtained as hereinafter provided and prescribed.
[Amended 11-18-2003 by Ord. No. 1740(20)]
B. 
Exemptions. This section shall not be deemed to require a license for permanent theater establishments and shall not apply to events conducted under the sole control and supervision of educational, veterans', charitable or local amateur little theater organizations, community or service organizations or religious organizations where the entire proceeds of such show or amusement shall be devoted to the purposes of said organization.
[Amended 11-18-2003 by Ord. No. 1740(20)]
C. 
Application. Written application shall be filed with the City Clerk setting forth, in addition to such other information as the Common Council may require, the following information:
[Amended 11-18-2003 by Ord. No. 1740(20)]
(1) 
Name, age, residence or permanent address of the applicant or of the principal officers of any firm, partnership, corporation, organization or association which the applicant represents and of the person whom the applicant shall designate as manager.
(2) 
Places of employment for two years previous.
(3) 
Place or places where amusement, show or exhibition is to be located or conducted, total area to be used and the name and residence of the owner thereof.
(4) 
Specific nature of amusement, show or exhibition for which license is sought.
(5) 
A copy of the applicant's current Wisconsin Seller's Permit.
D. 
Inspection. The City Clerk shall refer any application filed under this section to the Chief of Police, Chief of the Fire Department, and Building Inspector, and these officials shall inspect or cause to be inspected each application and the premises to determine whether the applicant and the premises sought to be licensed comply with the regulations, ordinances, and laws applicable thereto and the premises is a proper place for the purpose for which it is to be used.
[Amended 12-7-2021 by Ord. No. 2074(10)]
E. 
Restrictions on granting licenses.
(1) 
No license shall be issued under this section unless and until it shall be found that all of the persons named in the application are of good moral character and that the proposed location complies with and conforms to all ordinances and health and fire regulations applicable thereto and is a safe and proper place for the purpose for which it shall be used, and the license shall be delivered upon payment of the required license fee.
[Amended 11-18-2003 by Ord. No. 1740(20)]
(2) 
A license shall be refused to any applicant or applicants who shall have had a license issued under this section revoked within two years of the date of application. A license shall be refused to any person who has, within five years of the date of application, been convicted of a felony, subject to Subchapter II of Ch. 111, Wis. Stats. No applicant to whom a license has been refused shall make further application until a period of at least six months shall have elapsed since the last previous rejection, unless he can show that the reason for such objection no longer exists.
[Amended 11-18-2003 by Ord. No. 1740(20)]
(3) 
No license shall be granted to a person under 21 years of age, no license shall be issued for any public amusement place within a residential district, and no license shall be renewed without reinspection of the premises.
F. 
Fees. The fee for license issued under this section shall be as set by the Common Council[1] for any circus or caravan and for any show, event or amusement not regularly conducted within the City at least 60 days in each year.
[1]
Editor's Note: See Fee Schedule on file at the City Clerk's office.
G. 
Suspension and revocation. The Mayor or Chief of Police may at any time suspend for not more than 10 days any license granted under the provisions of this section for disorderly or immoral conduct on the premises or may at any time revoke any license for the violation by the licensee, his agents or employees of any of the rules, regulations, ordinances or laws of the City or state governing or applying to public peace, safety, morals or general welfare. Notice of such suspension or revocation and the reasons therefor, in writing, shall be served personally upon the person named in the application or by mailing the same to the latest address given in the application. Such a suspension or revocation may be appealed to the Common Council if notice thereof is given to the City Clerk within 10 days of such suspension or revocation. No refund of any unearned portion of the license fee shall be made in any case.
[Amended 11-18-2003 by Ord. No. 1740(20)]
[1]
Editor’s Note: Former § 100-2, Public dances and dance halls, as amended, was repealed 3-21-2017 by Ord. No. 2021(17).
[Added 1-8-1994 by Ord. No. 1460(29)]
A. 
Definition. As used in this section, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
SPECIAL EVENT
Any planned extraordinary occurrence on the public right-of-way or public premises, including but not limited to parades, processions, bicycle or foot races, and festivals.
B. 
Application. No person may hold a special event on the public right-of-way or public premises without obtaining a special event permit. Application forms and general information shall be available from the Chamber of Commerce (a.k.a. Experience Burlington) office. The applicant must contact the Police Department and the Department of Public Works to review and approve an event and to determine related costs prior to submitting a special event application to the Chamber of Commerce office. If required by the state, a copy of the applicant's current Wisconsin Seller's Permit shall be provided.
[Amended 11-18-2003 by Ord. No. 1740(20); 12-5-2023 by Ord. No. 2106(12)]
(1) 
Mapped routes. All permit applications for special events featuring foot or bicycle races, runs, rides or parades shall include a detailed map of the proposed route for approval by the Police Department and the Department of Public Works. Routes for annual special events must be submitted with the application regardless of the historical precedent. Proposed routes may be altered at the discretion of the Police Department and the Department of Public Works. In the event the organizers or sponsors of any special event deviate from the route submitted without the approval of the City, the organizers or sponsors of such special event shall be denied a permit for any special event for the following calendar year.
(2) 
Approval. The application shall be reviewed and approved by the Police Department, Fire Department, Health Department, Building Inspection, City Clerk and the Department of Public Works. The Common Council, at its sole discretion, may review and approve a special event permit based on potential impacts to City operations.
(3) 
Exemption. A permit fee is not required for:
(a) 
Special events not requiring the services of the Police Department or the Department of Public Works.
(b) 
Special events sponsored by the City or otherwise exempted by the Common Council.
(c) 
Special events sponsored by veterans organizations.
(d) 
Public and parochial elementary and secondary school civic-oriented events.
(e) 
Demonstrations as public displays of sentiment for or against a person or cause.
(4) 
Fees. After the application has been approved by the Police Department and the Department of Public Works, the applicant for a special event permit shall pay a fee based on a rate as set by the Common Council per man-hour for City services as determined in the application review and approval process.[1] No special event permit requiring a fee is valid until the fee has been paid. The Public Works Director may establish fees for provision of additional City services not set forth herein.
[1]
Editor's Note: See Fee Schedule on file at the City Clerk's office.
(5) 
Refunds. Permit fee payments may be refunded if notification of cancellation of a permitted special event is received by the City Clerk at least 10 working days prior to the special event.
C. 
Permit regulations.
(1) 
City not liable. The special event permit application shall contain a statement that: "The applicant agrees to indemnify and save harmless the City from and against all liabilities, claims, demands, judgments, losses, and all suits at law or in equity, costs and expenses, including reasonable attorney fees, for injury or death of any person or loss or damage to the property of any person, firm, organization or corporation, including both parties hereto and their employees, arising from the holding of such special event." No permit may be issued unless the applicant has agreed to the terms of this statement on the written application.
(2) 
Insurance.
(a) 
Each applicant for an event requiring City services shall furnish with the application fee submitted to the City Clerk a certificate of insurance showing insurance written by a company licensed in the State of Wisconsin, approved by the City and covering any and all liability or obligations which may result from the operations by the applicant's employees, agents, contractors or subcontractors, and including workers' compensation coverage in accordance with Ch. 102, Wis. Stats. The certificate shall provide that the company will furnish the City with a ten-day written notice of cancellation, nonrenewal or material change. The insurance shall be written in comprehensive form and shall protect the applicant and City against all claims arising from injuries to members of the public or damage to property of others arising out of any act or omission of the applicant, its employees, agents, contractors or subcontractors.
(b) 
The policy of insurance shall provide minimum combined single limits for bodily injury and property damage of $1,000,000 or such other insurance as deemed adequate by the City Attorney.
D. 
Permit restrictions. Scheduling of special events shall be subject to approval by the City.
In addition to the suspension or revocation of any license or permit issued under this chapter, any person who shall violate any provision of this chapter shall be subject to a penalty as provided in Chapter 1, § 1-4 of this Municipal Code.