AGENDA REPORT
Meeting Date: February 19, 2025
Item Number:
To: Honorable Mayor & City Council
From: Magdalena Davis Jones, Community Outreach Manager Subject: REQUEST FOR THE CITY COUNCIL TO CONSIDER THE
PLACEMENT OF PERSIAN NEW YEAR (NOWRUZ) BANNERS IN
BEVERLY HILLS FOR 2025
RECOMMENDATION
This item seeks City Council approval of the request for placement of Nowruz street pole banners in Beverly Hills, including design, locations, and duration, for 2025.
Nowruz is a secular festival that welcomes the start of spring and the beginning of the Persian New Year. It is recommended to install ninety-seven (97) total banners to commemorate the Persian New Year, known as Nowruz (New Day), celebrated this year on March 20, 2025. Similar to years past, the artwork was provided courtesy of the Farhang Foundation (Attachment 1).
DISCUSSION
For many years, as far back as 2007, the City of Beverly Hills has commemorated Nowruz in a variety of ways, including proclamations, a public display at City Hall, virtual videos during the pandemic, and with street pole banners. Banners have traditionally been utilized as one of the methods to spread public awareness for City programming, events, and holidays (Attachment 2), and must be City-sponsored.
Nowruz is the Persian New Year, which has been celebrated worldwide for over 3,000 years by people of diverse communities. Nowruz falls on the first day of the vernal (spring) City staff recommends City Council approve the design, locations and duration of street pole banners celebrating the Persian New Year, also known as Nowruz, taking place this year on March 20, 2025.
INTRODUCTION
Attachments: 1. 2025 Banner Artwork, Courtesy of the Farhang Foundation
2. City Banner Policy
Meeting Date: February 19, 2025
equinox, which typically occurs on or around March 21 and marks the first day of the Persian New Year, of which there are 13 days in many cultures. This year, Nowruz takes place on March 20, 2025. Beverly Hills is home to a significant Persian resident population.
With the month-long recommendation to have banners hung, there are other programs to complement, including: Community Services Department placing 3 Nowruz tables (or, Haft-sin) at the Farmers Market, Roxbury, and La Cienega as has been done in previous years. The table will likely go up at the Farmer’s Market on Sunday, March 9, and at the community centers March 15 - 22. Additionally, a Nowruz table display (Haft-sin) would be on display on the first floor of City Hall March 20 - April 1. Both the banners and programming above will be marketed to the public through the City’s typical communication methods, including the website, social media, and BHTV.
As in previous years, the Farhang Foundation has provided the City with artwork for the street pole banners as a courtesy. This year’s banners includes artwork provided by them again, with the City’s shield and the date of the celebration.
For 2025, an identical number of street pole banners as the previous year is proposed that includes areas of the Business Triangle, Wilshire Boulevard, La Cienega Boulevard, S.
Santa Monica and N. Santa Monica. Additionally, one street span banner at the intersection of Wilshire and Santa Monica Boulevard is proposed to be displayed. The total number of banners is 97.
The Council is requested to approve the following items:
• Banner duration: Both the street pole banners and street span banners to be placed from February 27 – April 3, 2024. Nowruz is on March 20 this year, and in some cultures lasts for 13 days, ending April 1.
• Banner artwork: Artwork courtesy of the Farhang Foundation, with the date and City Shield included (Attachment 1)
• Banner locations:
Alternating poles on both sides of the street
- Up to (10) banners on Wilshire Boulevard between Maple Drive and Robertson Boulevard
- Up to (10) banners on Wilshire Boulevard between N. Santa Monica Boulevard and Whitter Drive
- Up to (10) banners on La Cienega Boulevard between Wilshire Boulevard and Olympic Boulevard
- Up to (10) banners on S. Santa Monica Boulevard between Wilshire Boulevard and Rodeo Drive
- Up to (7) banners on N. Canon Drive between Wilshire Boulevard and S.
Santa Monica Boulevard
- Up to (8) banners on N. Beverly Drive between Wilshire Boulevard and S.
Santa Monica Boulevard
- Up to (8) banners on the South side of Olympic Boulevard, between Spaulding Drive and S. Roxbury Drive
Alternating poles on the North side of the street
- Up to (33) banners on N. Santa Monica Boulevard between Wilshire Boulevard and Doheny Drive
Street span banner
- (1) banner across Wilshire and Santa Monica Boulevard Meeting Date: February 19, 2025
FISCAL IMPACT
Staff has obtained an estimated cost of $27,962.64 (including tax) for the fabrication, installation, and removal of the 97 banners through the City’s approved banner vendor, A3 Visuals.
Funding for this request is available in the Council approved budget for the Policy and Management budget (48008303-731000).
Keith Sterling,
Deputy City Manager
Approved By
Attachment 1
Attachment 1 – Nowruz Banners 2025
Banner Design Mockup
Artwork Courtesy of the Farhang Foundation
Attachment 2
CITY OF BEVERLY HILLS POLICY
REGARDING PRIVATELY-OWNED BANNERS AND RIBBONS
ON STREET TREES AND STREET POLES
The City of Beverly Fulls owns certain personal property, such as street light poles and other poles located in the public right of way (collectively referred to as “streetpoles”) from which the City and others occasionally hang decorative banners or bannerspromoting special events. Additionally, property owners have occasionally drapedribbons around street trees located in public right of way adjacent to their property.
Banners placed on street poles are an important medium for providing notice to Beverly Hills residents, as well as those who work in and visit Beverly Hills, about Citysponsored and City-funded special events. Because of the significant economic benefitsgained from tourism, the City has a strong interest in fostering tourism by promotingCity-sponsored and City-funded special events and by providing notice of the locations of nonprofit organizations (such as the Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce and the Beverly Hills Visitor Bureau) that promote tourism and business within Beverly Hills.
By adopting this policy, the City does not intend to create public fora on street poles and street trees. The street poles and street trees are not traditional public fora andthe City has never intended to open this property to use by others for communicativepurposes, so the street poles and street trees are not designated public fora. As aconsequence, the street poles and street trees are non-public fora.
The City wishes to establish a policy that governs the type of privately-owned banners and ribbons that may be affixed to street poles and street trees and the manner in which such items may be affixed. The purpose of these administrative regulations is to implement Beverly Hills Municipal Code Section 10-4-302(a), which prohibits the posting of any private sign, banner, or ribbon on a street pole, street tree or other publicproperty without the permission of the City. Adopting these implementing administrativeregulations will ensure that the provisions of Section 10-4-302 are applied in a viewpointneutral manner and that posting of banners and ribbons will not result in signage clutterthat districts vehicle drivers or has a negative aesthetic impact. This policy does not apply to City-owned banners or ribbons.
Except as provided in this policy, no privately-owned banner or ribbon shall be affixed to a street pole or street tree. Nothing in this policy exempts a person fromobtaining City approval before affixing banners or ribbons to City street poles or streettrees.
Banners
1. No banner shall be hung from a street tree.
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2. No banner shall be hung from any street pole unless that pole has been specifically designed or equipped to accommodate banners.
3. Banners hung from City street poles shall be limited to the following:
a. Banners advertising events that satisfy all of the following criteria:
(i) arc open to the public; (ii) will be conducted on public property within Beverly Hills; (iii) are being sponsored, in part or in full, bythe City or the Beverly Hills Unified School District; and (iv) willraise money for a non-profit organization that either provides financial support or free services to the City or the School District. b. Banners advertising events that satisfy all of the following criteria:
(i) are open to the public; (ii) are being conducted on private, non residential, property within Beverly Hills where a non profit organization is the sole occupant; and (iii) are sponsored by that non-profit organization. Such banners shall be hung solely on polesdirectly adjacent to that property. c. Banners advertising City-sponsored or City-funded special events that satisfy all of the following criteria: (i) are open to the public;(ii) are conducted by a nonprofit organization that promotes tourism or business within Beverly Hills; and (iii) are not a purely commercial enterprise; and (iv) either (a) the proceeds, if any, will directly benefit either a federal, state or local government agencyor the non-profit organization conducting the event or (b) the special event will take place on City-owned property and willfurther a public purpose. “City-sponsored” special event means an event in which the City is a co-sponsor and actively involved inconducting or staging the event. A “City-funded” special event isan event that has received funding of $15,000 or more from theCity. d. Banners demarking the location of a non-profit organization that maintains tax-exempt status under Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3) and whose primary purpose is to promote tourism or business within Beverly Hills.
4. Material and location of banners shall be subject to the review and approval of the City Engineer. Banners that are hung over a street andbetween two poles on opposite sides of the street shall be no larger thantwenty feet (20) wide and four feet (4’) high. Vertical banners that are hung from one street pole shall be no larger than three feet, nine inches (3’9”) wide and ten feet (10’) high. Banners shall not include the logo of a for profit corporation nor indicate sponsorship by any individual or for profit corporation.
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5. No decorative flags or any other moving objects may be attached to the ties or cords used to secure banners hung over a street.
6. Banners advertising an event shall be hung no earlier than fourteen (14) days before the event and shall be removed within one (1) business day after the event. If any banner is not removed within this time frame, City personnel shall remove the banner and the owner of the banner shall bebilled for the City’s costs associated with such removal.
7. Banners shall be removed if they become torn, tattered, faded or are otherwise not maintained in a first class condition.
8. All banners shall be affixed in accordance with safety requirements established by the City Engineer.
9. No banners shall be hung from City street poles during the following dates: November 1st through January 10th annually.
10. For the purposes of this policy, “banner” shall have the same meaning as “flag, banner or pennant” as defined in the Beverly Hills Municipal Code.
11. The City shall limit its review and approval of banners to whether the banners meet the criteria of this policy and whether the posting of thebanner would conflict with the scheduled posting of any other banner.The City shall render its decision within thirty days after an application for a banner has been filed.
Ribbons
1. A private property owner may affix a ribbon to a street tree directly adjacent to that owner’s property provided that:a. The ribbon is affixed in a manner that does not injure the tree. b. The ribbon is a single color and contains no text.c. No more than one ribbon is affixed to a tree at any one time.d. No street tree shall be draped with a ribbon for more than one week in any six-month period.
2. Ribbons shall be removed if they become torn, tattered, faded or are otherwise not maintained in a first class condition.
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3. The City shall limit its review and approval of ribbons to whether the ribbons meet the criteria of this policy and whether the affixing of theribbons would conflict with the scheduled affixing of any other ribbon.The City shall render its decision within thirty days after an application fora ribbon has been filed.
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