Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis LLP
Attorneys at Law
2010 Main Street, 8th Floor | Irvine, CA 92614-7214
Telephone: 949.553.1313 | Facsimile: 949.553.8354
www.allenmatkins.com
Kelly C. Smith
E-mail: [email protected]
Direct Dial: 9498515439 File Number: 393050.00001/4888-7079-3342.1
Los Angeles | Orange County | San Diego | Century City | San Francisco | New York Allen Matkins
VIA ELECTRONIC MAIL
September 6, 2023
Rancho Mirage City Council
Attn: Kristie Ramos, City Clerk
69825 Highway 111
Rancho Mirage, California 92270
Email: [email protected]
Re: Objections to Agenda Item No. 7 - Amendment to Rancho Mirage Municipal Code Chapter 5.12 Regulating Special Events
Dear Honorable Members of the City Council:
This firm represents Wendy Hope Heckmann, a longtime homeowner and resident of Rancho Mirage. Ms. Heckmann is also the plaintiff in pending litigation against the City of Rancho Mirage regarding its current special event ordinance located in Chapter 5.12 of the Rancho Mirage Municipal Code. The purpose of this letter is to detail Ms. Heckmann’s concerns with certain provisions in the draft Ordinance to amend the special event ordinance, which the City Council will consider at its September 7, 2023, meeting.
We respectfully request that this letter be included as part of the administrative record for this matter. We also request that you review our previous letters to the Planning Commission, which provide further background and specifics. These letters are dated May 24, 2023, June 12, 2023, July 11, 2023, and August 9, 2023, and are attached as Page Nos. 7:38-56 to the City Council’s Agenda.
A. Background on Rancho Mirage’s Special Event Ordinance On November 16, 2022, Ms. Heckmann initiated a lawsuit against the City of Rancho Mirage because the City’s current special event ordinance is plainly unconstitutional and violates her and other residents’ rights to use their homes for private gatherings. As drafted, Rancho Mirage’s current special event ordinance prohibits all gatherings of 25 or more people at a residential property unless the gathering is held for or by a non-profit organization—meaning that residents cannot host birthday parties, holiday gatherings, book clubs, bible studies, etc. in their own homes if 25+ people will be in attendance. As enforced, the City appears to be permitting people to
Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis LLP
Attorneys at Law
City of Rancho Mirage City Council
September 6, 2023
host private gatherings of 25 or more people in their homes if they comply with Chapter 5.12’s litany of rules governing special events. Either way, the City’s special event ordinance and the City’s enforcement policy are both unconstitutional and violate Rancho Mirage residents’ rights of assembly, association, and privacy.
Recognizing that its current special event ordinance is unconstitutional, the City drafted an ordinance to amend Chapter 5.12, which the Planning Commission was first asked to consider at its May 25, 2023, meeting. Many Rancho Mirage residents attended that meeting and spoke out against the current special event ordinance, and their public comments underscored the need to change the City’s current regime. For example, one resident recounted how the City shut down his 70th birthday party because he did not have a special event permit and did not know he needed one to throw himself a birthday party.
Since May 2023, the Rancho Mirage Planning Commission has reviewed and considered multiple draft ordinances to amend Chapter 5.12. And the City has undoubtedly made positive revisions. Indeed, the City is no longer aiming to require homeowners to obtain permits for private events at their own homes. While the City has made important changes, it has also ignored and failed to resolve other significant deficiencies, which we urge this City Council to address.
B. Further Revisions Are Necessary to Create a Fair and Clear Special Event Ordinance
The most significant and flawed portion of the Ordinance is its unrealistic and unattainable noise restrictions. Specifically, Section 5.12.160 of the draft Ordinance requires all non-profit special event[s] to “comply with any noise [. . .] restrictions regarding the non-profit special event’s hours of operation.” Accordingly, this provision requires those hosting non-profit special events to comply with the noise limits set forth in Chapter 8.45.030 of the Rancho Mirage Municipal Code.
Chapter 8.45.030, in turn, prohibits noise in excess of 55 dBA in medium and high density residential areas from 6 PM – 10 PM. According to Yale University, a household refrigerator emits noise that is 55 dBA, and a normal conversation is 60-70 dBA. (See https://ehs.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/decibel-level-chart.pdf.) Thus, under the draft Ordinance, if any noise beyond a whisper can be heard beyond a person’s property line, the host of a non-profit event will be in violation of his or her permit and may be cited, fined $1,000 or more, and barred from hosting future non-profit events.
This cannot be the standard. Otherwise, live music will be barred at every non-profit event.
And even without music, every person hosting a non-profit event outdoors will still be in violation of his or her permit and subject to expensive fines simply because his or her guests are talking at normal levels.
Recognizing the impossibility of this standard, at the Planning Commission’s June 12 meeting, Commission Chair David Grey called for further review of the noise ordinance and noted
Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis LLP
Attorneys at Law
City of Rancho Mirage City Council
September 6, 2023
that it may need to be adjusted. Unfortunately, the City has failed to do so. Accordingly, we request that the City Council require the City to adopt a more realistic noise ordinance. Indeed, if the City supports its residents in giving back to charitable organizations, it must adjust the noise ordinance so that it imposes reasonable—not impossible—noise limits.
Additionally, the Ordinance, as drafted, is still unclear as to whether alcohol may be served at non-profit special events. Section 5.12.270 of the draft Ordinance sets forth various “prohibited acts.” That list includes “[a]llowing any person to consume, sell, or be in possession of intoxicating liquor in, around, or near the place where the non-profit special event is held, except where such consumption or possession is expressly authorized under the terms of this chapter and under the laws of the state.” However, there is no other provision in the draft Ordinance stating when the consumption of alcohol at a non-profit special event is “expressly authorized.” Therefore, as drafted, the Ordinance is fairly construed as prohibiting alcohol at all non-profit special events.
Again, that cannot be the standard. Having a glass of wine at a non-profit event is normal and to be expected. We have raised this point previously and understand from comments made at prior Planning Commission meetings that the City does not mean to ban alcohol at non-profit special events. Still, the City has still refused to revise the language in Section 5.12.270 to make that point clear. Accordingly, we now ask the City Council to require the City to clarify the Ordinance so it notes that alcohol consumption may be permitted at non-profit special events if served in accordance with State law.
On behalf of local residents and property owners, we thank the City Council for its careful attention to this matter. We request that the City Council direct the City to revise the draft special event ordinance in accordance with the points we raise here and in our prior letters. Additionally, we strongly urge the City Council to recommend that Rancho Mirage’s municipal code be revised to adopt reasonable, not impossible, noise restrictions.
Please contact me if you have any questions or wish to discuss these issues further.
Very truly yours,
Kelly C. Smith
KCS:slp
cc: Michael B. Cobden
Law Offices of Quintanilla & Associates