Item No.
TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL
FROM: OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER
BY: JAMES ECKART, CITY PROSECUTOR
DATE: MARCH 11, 2025
SUBJECT: REPORT ON THE REGULATION OF BLOCK PARTIES
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The City Council will discuss a report regarding the permissibility and potential regulation of block parties within residential areas, including any amendments to existing provisions of the Downey Municipal Code. This is in response to a City Council request for a future agenda item discussion on this topic.
RECOMMENDATION
That the City Council:
Discuss the permissibility and potential regulation of block parties within residential areas, including any amendments to existing provisions of the Downey Municipal Code.
BACKGROUND
At the City Council meeting on October 8, 2024, the City Council requested that City staff evaluate a potential ordinance or other approach that would allow residents to conduct a block party.
Prior to preparing such an ordinance, staff is submitting a report that provides the City Council with options on how best to address the impacts that result from block parties and similar special events in residential areas of the City.
DISCUSSION
The City Council has enacted provisions of the Downey Municipal Code (“DMC”) – including the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance (DMC Article IX), in an effort to regulate the uses that may be conducted in our community, while safeguarding the public’s health, safety, and welfare.
The City Council expressed an interest in potentially regulating “block parties” within the residential areas of the City. A block party is a general term that describes a gathering
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or party hosted and attended by several neighbors within a residential area. Such parties generally include the preparation and consumption of food and beverages and the corresponding use of tables, chairs, and other furniture and equipment to facilitate the party, as well as the provision of either live or non-live entertainment. Although primarily intended to be attended by the residents of that particular block/area, block parties are often attended by additional friends, family, and other persons who do not reside in the area. Such parties may entirely occur on private property, though block parties typically extend onto public sidewalks and/or roadways (or are conducted entirely within the public right-of-way).
Block parties help neighbors develop and maintain social bonds amongst themselves when celebrating holidays or special events. However, such gatherings can also have a large impact upon residential communities and raise several public safety concerns that need to be considered in order to protect not only those persons attending the party, but also other residents and guests within the nearby vicinity.
Such concerns include, but are not limited to:
a) Street closures to protect persons attending the party from vehicular traffic – and the corresponding increase in vehicular traffic and the decrease in available street parking (or access thereto);
b) Noise control to address the presentation of both live and non-live, amplified entertainment;
c) Fire safety resulting from the use of open flames on public rights-of-way, and persons congregating near and otherwise obstructing fire hydrants; d) Alcoholic beverage consumption on public property or areas otherwise open to the public;
e) Sanitation requirements to prevent illicit discharges into the City’s storm system and littering/dumping upon public property (including of fats, oils, and grease), and to ensure that the area is clean and no trash or debris remains upon conclusion of the event; and,
f) Potential damage to public property or injuries to persons while on public property.
Large gatherings of persons on sidewalks and roadways could also result in increased nuisance activities and/or criminal activities upon the public right-of-way and adjacent private property (especially upon the property of persons who are not participating in the block party or other gathering).
Although the City has received and processed a variety of applications for “special events/street closures” that may result in many of the concerns referenced above, most requests were for commercial or civic events that were open to the general public – and the City has received one request for a local residential block party in the last few years.
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Current Downey Municipal Code Regulations
Currently, pursuant to DMC Section 9420, the City regulates “special events” that include, but are not limited to, temporary outdoor sales activities, retail events, carnivals, fairs, and “large (i.e., 150 or more people) neighborhood block parties.”
Section 9420 provides procedures for City review – which can be done in certain instances by City Staff, while for events that are larger in scale (in area and/or number of attendees), must be reviewed by the Planning Commission. Any approval of a special event application would be subject to general requirements set forth in DMC Section 9420.06 (“General Requirements”), as well as more specific requirements set forth in Section 9420 that are dependent upon the type of special event being considered.
DMC Section 9420.20 (“Special Outdoor Events – Residential Zones or Land Uses”) explicitly authorizes “pageants, fairs, carnivals, religious, or entertainment events and neighborhood or community gatherings” in outdoor facilities such as public roadways where vehicular traffic would be impeded by the event, subject to certain requirements including an encroachment permit issued by the City Engineer.
Although the host is required to obtain the encroachment permit from the City Engineer, the applications are to be reviewed by the City Planner and other City Departments or public agencies so that they can address the potential adverse impacts created by the these special outdoor events. Moreover, the applicant is required to post a cash bond or other guarantee (which could be used to clean-up and restore the area after the event if not otherwise done by the permittee) and provide proof of liability insurance in an amount determined by the City Attorney.
Furthermore, the City has further promulgated Administrative Regulation 805 to address “Parade or Event Street Closure Permit Procedures” – which was revised as recently as May 3, 2023. Administrative Regulation 805 requires approval of the City Council (and in limited circumstances by the City Manager), and appears to be primarily aimed at curbing the adverse impacts of larger special events and not necessarily smaller local block parties in residential areas.1
As DMC 9420.20 explicitly authorizes “neighborhood and community gatherings,” it may be reasonably construed that persons who desire to host a “block party” can currently apply for an encroachment permit pursuant to the existing regulation – and Staff can process the permit and impose conditions designed to address the negative impacts upon the community. However, the language of DMC Section 9420.02 (“Intent and Purpose”), it is unclear whether these provisions are limited, with respect to “block parties”, only to those events of 150 persons or more, or whether these procedures and regulations apply to any size block party.
1 Administrative Regulation 805 further requires a petition signed by all residents who would be impacted by the closure of streets when applying for a permit for a block party.
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Amendment of the Downey Municipal Code
Since DMC 9420.20 is designed to address special events in residential areas ranging from block parties to religious events to carnivals and fairs, the City Council may wish to consider an amendment to the Downey Municipal Code (either an amendment to DMC Section 9420.20 or the addition of a supplemental provision) that is more specifically tailored to addressing residential block parties.
By enacting an ordinance more tailored to addressing “block parties,” the City Council could enact additional or otherwise clarify the requirements, regulations, and limitations that would explicitly apply to hosting a block party.
For example, an ordinance specifically tailored to block parties could, amongst other actions:
(i) Set forth whether approval of all property owners and/or tenants of the residences along the block, or a certain percentage thereof, is required, or whether neighbor notification is sufficient;
(ii) State whether block parties may be conducted on any block or be limited to only within cul-de-sacs, or otherwise prohibit block parties on certain streets (due to impact upon vehicular traffic);
(iii) Impose time limitations to prohibit block parties from occurring during certain nighttime hours;
(iv) Set the maximum number of block parties that could be hosted on a block (or by a specific host) in a specified period of time;
(v) Explicitly mandate access for emergency vehicles at all times; (vi) Provide what type of encroachments may be placed on public property (e.g., whether bounce houses and jumpers could be placed in roadways, whether grills could be used on sidewalks, etc.);
(vii) Set forth whether a fee can be charged to attend, or whether the party can have other vendors (and, if appropriate, set the requirements for those vendors); and,
(viii) Establish the amount of bond and liability insurance that would be required, and require a “hold harmless agreement”.
Complete Ban on Block Parties
Notwithstanding the advantages that block parties can provide to a community2, they may also constitute a significant source of nuisance activity and an impediment to the peace
2 Although a vast majority of Cities within Los Angeles County authorize block parties either through an ordinance or resolution that is explicitly tailored to regulating block parties (including, but not limited to, South Gate) or through an ordinance that more generally regulates special events and/or street closures (including, but not limited to, Long Beach, Bell, Bellflower, San Gabriel, and, as indicated above, Downey), there are also a few Cities that do not allow them at all (including, but not limited to, Cudahy and Santa Fe
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and quiet enjoyment of residential property by persons who do not wish to participate in the block party.
Accordingly, the City could optionally ban block parties that occur on public rights-of-way and limit such activities to occurring entirely on private property.
CITY COUNCIL PRIORITIES
Quality of Life, Neighborhood & Infrastructure
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact at this time.
Springs). For those Cities that do permit block parties (either explicitly or through a more general permitting process), there is a wide variety of regulations and limitations differentiating the Cities.