ORDINANCE NO. 3290-25
AMENDING ARTICLE 5 OF CHAPTER 24 TO TITLE 4 OF RBMC
SOUND AMPLIFYING EQUIPMENT
PAGE NO. 1
ORDINANCE NO. 3290-25
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
REDONDO BEACH, CALIFORNIA, AMENDING MUNICIPAL
CODE ARTICLE 5 OF CHAPTER 24 TO TITLE 4 REGARDING
SOUND AMPLIFYING EQUIPMENT AND MUNICIPAL CODE
CHAPTER 2 TO TITLE 1 REGARDING INFRACTIONS.
WHEREAS, prohibition of sound amplifying equipment in the entire City of Redondo Beach at all hours would be a violation of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution; and
WHEREAS, the City Council is mindful of the legal principles relating to regulation of activity in public forums and does not intend to unconstitutionally suppress or infringe expressive activities protected by the First Amendment of the United State Constitution or the Liberty of Speech Clause of the California Constitution, but instead is enacting reasonable content-neutral time, place, and manner regulations that address the need to promote the safety and welfare of the public and preserve residential privacy and tranquility; and WHEREAS, in issuing this Ordinance, the City Council takes notice of the principles and decisions regarding the regulation of public assemblies, including but not limited to the following:
1. Public streets, sidewalks, and parks are the archetypes of a traditional public forum where the government cannot favor one speaker over another based on the viewpoint of the speaker. (See Frisby v. Schultz (1988) 487 U.S. 474, 480-481; see also Rosenberger v.
Rector & Visitors of the University of Virginia (1995) 515 U.S. 819, 828.) The government may regulate First Amendment activities in traditional public fora, such as streets, sidewalks, and parks when such restrictions are reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions that are: content neutral; narrowly tailored to serve a significant government interest; and leave open ample alternative channels of communication. (See Cornelius v.
NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (1985) 473 U.S. 788, 799-800; see also Klein v. San Diego County (2006) 463 F.3d 1029, 1037; Bay Area Peace Navy v. United States (1990) 914 F.2d 1224.)
2. The City has a substantial interest in protecting residential privacy and tranquility. (See Frisby v. Schultz, supra, 487 U.S. at pp. 483-484; Klein v. San Diego County, supra, 463 F.3d at p. 1034; see also Cuviello v. City of Vallejo (2019) 944 F.3d 816, 828 (government interest in protecting its citizens from unwelcome noise “is at its zenith in residential areas, where citizens have substantial privacy interests.”) While the right to residential privacy and tranquility does not encompass a right to remain blissfully unaware of the presence of protestors, it does support a significant government interest in preventing protesting that renders the targeted resident a captive audience to the protestors’ message, thus residential protest ordinances must carefully balance two valid and competing interests, the right of residents not to be captive audiences to unwanted speech and the right of protestors to convey their message. (Frisby v. Schultz, supra, 486 U.S. at p. 487; Klein v.
San Diego County, supra, 463 F.3d at p. 1035.)
3. Time, place, and manner limitations on the use of amplified sound must be content neutral; narrowly tailored to serve a significant government interest such as a City’s interests in peace and tranquility, maintenance of public safety, and protecting individuals from unwanted speech; and leave open ample alternative channels for communication of information. (See Klein v. Laguna Beach (2010) 381 Fed.Appx. 723, 725-727 (“there was no evidence to support the district court’s finding that a blanket prohibition on amplified ORDINANCE NO. 3290-25
AMENDING ARTICLE 5 OF CHAPTER 24 TO TITLE 4 OF RBMC
SOUND AMPLIFYING EQUIPMENT
PAGE NO. 2
sound after 5 p.m. is narrowly tailored to a significant government interest in public tranquility, particularly in light of the significant protections for speech in a public forum”); see also Cuviello v. City of Vallejo, supra, 944 F.3d at p. 825 (recognizing that sound amplifying device “can produce noise that is unpleasant” and that municipalities can regulate use of such devices but “must ensure that even a well-intentioned restriction does not give way to suppression of speech.”)
WHEREAS, the City Council supports peaceful protests, demonstrations, and events, but some individuals have used amplified noise in connection with recurring protests and other public assembly events that unreasonably disturbs the privacy and tranquility of residents in their homes during morning hours; and
WHEREAS, the Redondo Beach Police Department received twenty-nine (29) calls for service between October 15, 2024 to January 29, 2025 regarding disturbances in front of the Sonesta Hotel; and
WHEREAS, of the twenty-nine (29) calls for service at the Sonesta Hotel, seventeen (17) calls occurred between 7:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m.; and
WHEREAS, the other twelve (12) calls occurred at noon or later, demonstrating that the use of sound amplifying equipment as a form of expression may be used at times during the day other than early in the morning or late in the evening without the requirement of a variance; and WHEREAS, on February 4, 2025, the City Council directed City staff to return with a draft ordinance to allow for time limitations on the use of amplified sound equipment; and WHEREAS, this Ordinance provides a narrowly tailored content-neutral mechanism to permit protests and other public assembly events to be conducted in ways that permit those assembling to engage in expressive activities intended to convey their message to the public while at the same time ensuring that the protests and other public assembly events do not result in unwelcome noise that will unreasonably harass and disturb the privacy and tranquility of residents in their homes; and
WHEREAS, providing a narrowly tailored content-neutral mechanism to address the purposes set forth above requires that the outdated and superseded provision of the Redondo Beach Municipal Code regrading sound amplifying equipment be modified.
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF REDONDO BEACH, CALIFORNIA, DOES HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 4-24.512 of the Redondo Beach Municipal Code is hereby amended to read in its entirety as follows:
4-24.512 Sound amplifying equipment.
It is unlawful for any person, other than personnel of law enforcement or governmental agencies, to install, use, or operate within the City a loudspeaker or sound amplifying equipment in a fixed or movable position or mounted upon any sound truck for the purpose of giving instructions, directions, talks, addresses, or lectures or transmitting music to any person or assemblage of persons in or upon any street, alley, sidewalk, park, place, or public property between the hours ORDINANCE NO. 3290-25
AMENDING ARTICLE 5 OF CHAPTER 24 TO TITLE 4 OF RBMC
SOUND AMPLIFYING EQUIPMENT
PAGE NO. 3
of 10:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m. without first filing an application for a variance and obtaining approval thereof as set forth in Article 7 of this chapter.
SECTION 2. Section 1-2.03 of the Redondo Beach Municipal Code is hereby amended to read in its entirety as follows:
§ 1-2.03 Infractions.
A violation of any of the following provisions of this Code shall constitute an infraction and not a misdemeanor:
Title 3
Section Description
3-1.01 Bicycles: Licenses Required
3-1.04 Skateboards/Roller Skates: Riding on Sidewalks Prohibited 3-1.05 Bicycles, Skateboards, and Wheeled Toys: Parking Restricted 3-1.06 Skateboards/Roller Skates on Streets or Alleys
3-1.07 Skateboards/Roller Skates on Bicycle Paths
3-1.08 Blocking Bicycle Paths
3-4.105 Fireworks: Possession, Use, and the Like Without a Permit 3-6.05 Overtime Parking
3-6.06 Parking Position in Space
3-6.07 Limitation on Number of Vehicles per Marked Parking Space 3-6.12 Restriction of Parking by Signs
3-7.303 Persons Other Than Police Officers or Firemen Directing Traffic 3-7.406 Obedience to Traffic Control Devices
3-7.501 Signal Controlled Intersections: Right Turns
3-7.505 Left and Right Turns: Prohibited Where Signed
3-7.507 U Turns
3-7.801 Stops Required at Designated Intersections
3-7.802 Emerging from Alleys and Private Driveways
3-7.803 Following Emergency Vehicles
3-7.804 Driving Through Funeral Processions
3-7.805 Motorcycles and Bicycles on Vacant Lots/Acreage: Noise/Dust 3-7.806 Clinging to Moving Vehicles
3-7.807 Driving Vehicles on Sidewalks
3-7.808 Driving on New Pavement
3-7.810 Trains Blocking Streets
3-7.811 Boarding and Alighting from Vehicles
3-7.812 Unlawful Riding on Vehicles
3-7.813 Railway Gates
3-7.902 Commercial Vehicles: Driving on Prohibited Streets 3-7.903 Commercial Vehicles on Certain Streets (Truck Routes) ORDINANCE NO. 3290-25
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SOUND AMPLIFYING EQUIPMENT
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3-7.1002 Crossing Streets in the Central Traffic District 3-7.1003 Crossing Streets at Right Angles
3-7.1004 Standing in Streets
3-7.1005 Pedestrians Standing on Sidewalks
3-7.1006 Places Closed to Pedestrian Travel
3-7.1101 Curb Parking: Exceptions
3-7.1103 Parking on Left Side of Street
3-7.1202 Parkways
3-7.1203 No Parking Zones: Designated
3-7.1204 No Parking Zones: Authorization to Establish
3-7.1205 Curb Zones: Time Limits: Markings
3-7.1208 Alley Parking
3-7.1209 Bus Zones
3-7.1210 Taxicab Stands
3-7.1301 Prohibited Outside Central Traffic District
3-7.1304 Authority of Signs
3-7.1305 Prohibited Between 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m.
3-7.1306 Prohibited Between 7:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m.
3-7.1307 Prohibited
3-7.1308 Prohibited During Various Hours
3-7.1309 Parking on Public and Private Property
3-7.1310 All Night Parking
3-7.1311 All Night Parking: Central Traffic District
3-7.1313 Storage of Vehicles on Streets and Alleys
3-7.1314 Temporary Parking
3-7.1315(c) Obedience to Emergency Rules and Signs
3-7.1318 Parking of Trailers, Semitrailers, Motor Homes, Campers and Recreational Trailers
3-7.1319 No Overnight Parking or Storage
3-7.1320 Restricted Parking Due to Weight
3-7.1321 Restricted Parking Due to Height
3-7.1403 Removal of Debris
3-7.1404 Damaging Traffic Signs
3-7.1503 Permits Required to Operate Advertising Vehicles 3-7.1506 Searchlights, Generators, and Floodlights
3-7.1705 Parking in a Preferential Parking Zone Prohibited Except by Permit 3-7.2102 Overnight Parking Prohibited
3-7.2114 Overnight Parking Permit in City Parking Lots
3-10.03 Parking in Designated Stalls
ORDINANCE NO. 3290-25
AMENDING ARTICLE 5 OF CHAPTER 24 TO TITLE 4 OF RBMC
SOUND AMPLIFYING EQUIPMENT
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3-10.04 Speed Control
Title 4
Section Description
4-7.02(b) Alcoholic Beverages: Possession of Open Container in Public Places and on Beaches
4-8.02 Curfew Detention: Loitering After 10:00 p.m.
4-9.701 Hang Gliders Prohibited
4-9.703 Flying Powered Model Aircraft and Gliders
4-9.707 Reckless Operation of Model Aircraft
4-9.802 Prohibited Activities on Piers
4-10.10 — 4-10.14 Commercial Exploitation of Sexual and Lewd Conduct 4-24.502 — 4-24.511 Noise Regulation
4-25.01 Ball Games and Hunting
4-35.05 Stopping or Parking Vehicles During Non-Designated Hours of Use 4-35.07(c)(1) — (4),
(c)(6) — (9)
Dogs in Parks
4-35.08(a) Animals in Parks
4-35.09(c) Alcoholic Beverages: Possession of Open Container in Parks 4-35.13 Skateboard Riding in Parks
4-35.14 Roller Skating, In-Line Skating and Bicycle Riding in Parks 4-35.15 Golfing in Parks
4-35.16 Operating Powered Model Aircraft and Boats in Parks 4-35.17 Erecting Barriers in Parks
Title 5
Section Description
5-1.103 Dogs at Large (Dogs on Beaches)
5-1.501 Defecation by Dogs/Animals
5-1.711 Violation—Beekeeping Penalties
Title 10
Section Description
10-2.1700—10-
2.1708
Parking Regulations
10-2.1524(d) Visibility at Intersections
Title 12
Section Description
12-1.203 Boat Races and Special Events
12-1.204 Vessels: Reverse Gears
12-1.302 Launching, Recovering, and Mooring of Vessels
12-1.305 Damages to Harbor, Waterways, Maritime Facilities, or Other Property 12-1.307 Obstruction of Harbor Facilities
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AMENDING ARTICLE 5 OF CHAPTER 24 TO TITLE 4 OF RBMC
SOUND AMPLIFYING EQUIPMENT
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12-1.308 Places of Abode
12-1.310 Obedience to Authorized Signs, Notices, Signals, and Buoys 12-1.311 Securing Permission for Debarkation
12-1.312 Protected Swimming Areas
12-1.314 Underwater Diving
12-1.315 Prohibitions: Swimming, Fishing, Surfboarding, and the Like 12-1.401 Mooring to Navigation Aids
12-1.402 Placement and Care of Private Buoys and Moorings 12-1.405 Making Vessels Fast
12-1.411 Obstructions to Fairways, Channels, or Berthing Spaces and Removal of Sunken Vessels
12-1.412 Dangerous or Disabled Vessels
12-1.413 Unseaworthy Vessels
12-1.506 Transfer of Bait
12-1.507 Sale of Live Bait
12-1.508 Commercial Vessels: Permits
12-1.513 Bait Disposal
12-1.702 Walkways to Be Kept Clear
12-1.703 Boarding Steps and Stairs
12-1.705 Hazardous Lights
12-1.706 Welding, Burning, and Cutting
12-1.707 Access Service Routes to Be Kept Clear
12-2.04 Tampering with Lighting Systems on Piers and Wharves 12-2.05 Sale of Merchandise on Piers and Wharves
12-2.09 Fishing from Piers and Wharves
12-3.01 Beach Tents and Umbrellas
12-3.02 Beach Fires
12-3.05 Removal of Stones, Gravel, and Sand from Beaches 12-3.06 Littering Beaches
12-3.07 Littering Waters
12-3.08 Littering Public Places
12-3.09 Littering from Vehicles
SECTION 3. INCONSISTENT PROVISIONS. Any provisions of the Redondo Beach Municipal Code, or appendices thereto, or any other ordinances of the City inconsistent herewith, to the extent of such inconsistencies and no further, are hereby repealed.
SECTION 4. SEVERANCE. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, or phrase of this ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by the decision of any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of the ordinance. The City Council hereby declares that it would have passed this ordinance and each ORDINANCE NO. 3290-25
AMENDING ARTICLE 5 OF CHAPTER 24 TO TITLE 4 OF RBMC
SOUND AMPLIFYING EQUIPMENT
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section, subsection, sentence, clause, and phrase thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections, sentences, clauses, or phrases be declared invalid or unconstitutional.
SECTION 5. PUBLICATION AND EFFECTIVE DATE. This ordinance shall be published by one insertion in the official newspaper of said city, and same shall go into effect and be in full force and operation from and after thirty (30) days after its final passage and adoption.
PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED this 11TH day of March, 2025. ________________________
James A. Light, Mayor
APPROVED AS TO FORM: ATTEST:
________________________________ ________________________________ Michael W. Webb, City Attorney Eleanor Manzano, CMC, City Clerk ORDINANCE NO. 3290-25
AMENDING ARTICLE 5 OF CHAPTER 24 TO TITLE 4 OF RBMC
SOUND AMPLIFYING EQUIPMENT
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STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES ) ss
CITY OF REDONDO BEACH )
I, Eleanor Manzano, City Clerk of the City of Redondo Beach, California, do hereby certify that Ordinance No. 3290-25 was introduced at a regular meeting of the City Council held on the 18th day of February, 2025, and approved and adopted by the City Council of the City of Redondo Beach, California, at a regular meeting of said City Council held on the 11th day of March, 2025, and there after signed and approved by the Mayor and attested by the City Clerk, and that said Ordinance was adopted by the following vote:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
ABSTAIN:
_______________________
Eleanor Manzano, CMC
City Clerk