REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL
To:Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From:Jason Simpson, City Manager
Prepared by:Johnathan Skinnner, Director of Community Services David Mann, Acting City Attorney
Date:May 27, 2025
Subject:Special Event Procedures
Recommendation
Receive and file the Special Event Procedures
Background
This item was previously before the City Council on May 13, 2025. The Acting City Attorney requested the item be continued in order to evaluate concerns and address those concerns.
Revisions were made to the procedures in response to those concerns.
Discussion
The City has traditionally approved most special event applications at the staff level. This approach has been successful for many years. However, more recently as the City has grown, the number of requests for special event permits has also risen along with more requests for larger events.
Meeting the expectations of event organizers while also squarely addressing the public safety concerns has, in some cases, led to friction. Finding the right balance remains the City’s priority.
The attached Special Event Procedures is intended to provide a more defined structure for the processing of special event applications. The procedures delineates the role of the City Council Special Events Committee which is to advise the City Manager as part of an effort to resolve a good faith disagreement between City staff and an event organizer.
Special Event Procedures
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Consistent with the LEMC, the City Manager retains authority to issue special event permits.
However, in those cases that a disagreement persists over event conditions or other requests, the event organizer has a right to appeal to the full City Council.
Through the process of preparing the procedures, the need for other improvements has also been identified. Already in the pipeline is a contract with eProval to develop a fully online Special Event Application process. The procedures direct the Director of Community Services and Community Services Department team to move forward in implementing this online process in the near term along with updating the City's special events webpage.
The City Attorney Department’s review of the procedures also highlighted the need to update the LEMC. The City special events ordinance was last updated in 1993. The procedures request the City Attorney to review LEMC Ch. 5.108 (Special Events) and resolve the conflicts in the special events ordinance with the LEMC Ch. 10.32 concerning “parades” (adopted in 1987). The goal is to prepare a single integrated ordinance providing for a unified process to address applications for all special events and also address issues like street closures, fee/cost waiver requests, and cost recovery. Any proposed ordinance presented to the City Council should also include a fee schedule resolution.
Accordingly, the City Council is requested to receive and file the attached Special Event Procedures.
Fiscal Impact
There is no fiscal impact.
Attachments
Attachment 1- Special Event Procedures
City Manager’s Office