Carlsbad Municipal Code Ch. 8.18 Expressive Activity

Establish a streamlined permitting process for expressive activities that balances the public's right to engage in such activities with the city's substantial interests in ensuring the public's peace, health, and safety and managing competing uses of city facilities by the public.

(Ord. CS-365 § 3, 2019)

Except where the context otherwise requires, for the purposes of this chapter, Chapter 8.18 et seq., the following definitions apply:

"City Manager"

means the City Manager or authorized designee.

"Demonstration"

means any formation, procession, or assembly of persons for the purposes of expressive activity.

"Event"

means a parade or public assembly for the purposes of expressive activity.

"Event organizer"

means any person who conducts, manages, promotes, organizes, aids or solicits attendance at an expressive activity event.

"Expressive activity"

includes conduct, the sole or principal object of which is the expression of opinion, views, or ideas. Expressive activity includes, but is not limited to, public oratory and distribution of literature.

"Expressive activity event permit"

means a permit as required by this chapter.

"Parade"

means any march, procession or motorcade consisting of persons, vehicles or a combination thereof, upon any street, sidewalk, public park, or other public area within the city.

"Police Chief"

means the Chief of Police or authorized designee.

"Public assembly"

means any meeting, picket line, rally or gathering of any kind that occupies any street, sidewalk, public park, or other public area within the city.

"Risk Manager"

means the Risk Manager or authorized designee.

"Sidewalk"

means any area or way set aside or open to the general public for purposes of pedestrian travel, whether or not it is paved.

"Sound-amplifying system"

means any system, apparatus, equipment, device, instrument or machine designed for or intended to be used for the purpose of amplifying the sound or increasing the volume of human voice, musical tone, vibration or sound wave.

"Spontaneous demonstration"

means an expressive activity occasioned by news or affairs coming into public knowledge seven or less days prior to the activity.

"Street"

means any place or way set aside or open to the general public for purposes of vehicular traffic, including, but not limited to, any berm or shoulder, parkway, public parking lot, right-of-way, alley or median.

(Ord. CS-365 § 3, 2019)

A. An expressive activity event permit is required prior to conducting a demonstration or other event with the principal purpose of engaging in expressive activity, where the activity involves a gathering of 75 or more persons and any of the following:

1. The use of any public park or other public area; or

2. The use of any street or sidewalk in a manner that does not comply with normal or usual traffic regulations or controls.

B. An expressive activity event permit is not required for a spontaneous demonstration that meets the criteria of subsection A if the event organizer provides at least four hours prior notice to the Police Chief of the date, time, and location(s) where the event is to be conducted, their contact information, and an estimate of the number of persons that will be participating.

C. Regardless of whether an expressive activity event permit is required, all persons that participate in an expressive activity event must comply with all applicable state and local laws and regulations.

(Ord. CS-365 § 3, 2019)

A. A person requesting an expressive activity event permit shall file an application on forms provided by the City Manager. The city will not process an incomplete application unless the applicant obtains a waiver of applicable requirements.

B. The application for an expressive activity event permit shall set forth all of the following information:

1. The name, address, email address and telephone number of the event organizer. If the event organizer is a non-individual or corporate entity, the application must identify an individual that will act as the primary contact for the event.

2. The date(s), time(s), and location(s) where the expressive activity is to be conducted.

3. An estimate of the number of persons who will be participating in the event.

4. If the event requires full or partial street or sidewalk closures, the applicant shall describe whether the event intends to occupy all or only a portion of the streets and/or sidewalks proposed to be traveled.

5. Whether the event will involve the use of vehicles, animals, fireworks, pyrotechnics or a sound-amplifying system.

C. The application shall be filed no later than two days before commencement of the event.

D. The City Manager may waive any of the permit application requirements where circumstances make it impractical or unnecessary to meet those requirements.

(Ord. CS-365 § 3, 2019)

A. The City Manager shall act on all complete applications in the following manner:

1. In determining whether to approve or deny a permit under subsection (A)(2), or to impose conditions on a permit under subsection (A)(3), the City Manager shall not consider the message of the event, the content of the speech, the identity or associational relationships of the applicant, or to any assumptions or predictions as the amount of hostility which may be aroused in the public by the content of the speech or message conveyed by the event.

2. After review of the application and receipt of all required documents, the City Manager shall issue the expressive activity event permit unless the City Manager finds that approving the permit would be contrary to the public peace, health, safety, or welfare for one or more of the following reasons:

a. The event will unduly interfere with ingress to, or egress from, or travel on a freeway or state designated highway;

b. The event requires a temporary street closure that will unduly interfere with the orderly and safe movement of traffic or the provision of public services, and the applicant is unable or unwilling to modify the event's scope, location, date, time, or duration to minimize such impact;

c. Due solely to the number of event participants and their impact on normal traffic or pedestrian flow, the event will require a significant diversion of police officers such that police protection for other areas of the city may be adversely impacted, and the applicant is unable or unwilling to modify the event's scope, location, date, time, or duration to minimize such impact; or

d. The anticipated number of event participants would exceed the safe capacity of the public park or other public area where the event is proposed.

3. The City Manager may impose conditions on approval of the expressive activity event permit as he or she determines to be reasonably necessary to protect the public peace, health, safety, or welfare.

4. The City Manager will act promptly on a timely filed and complete application. The city's review of a complete application shall take no longer than 72 hours and the City Manager will make a determination not less than one calendar day prior to the event. Any permit denial shall be made in writing.

B. An applicant has the right to appeal the denial of an expressive activity event permit to the City Council. The denied applicant shall use the following procedures:

1. The denied applicant must make the appeal within five days after receipt of the denial by filing a written notice with the City Clerk and a copy of the notice with the Police Chief. The City Council will act upon the appeal at the next regularly scheduled meeting following receipt of the notice of appeal, which decision will be final.

2. In the event that the City Council denies an applicant's appeal, the applicant may seek judicial review of the City Council's decision pursuant to California Code of Civil Procedure Section 1094.8.

(Ord. CS-365 § 3, 2019)

The City Manager may adopt administrative regulations that are consistent with and that further the terms and requirements set forth within this chapter. All such administrative regulations must be in writing.

(Ord. CS-365 § 3, 2019)

Conducting or participating in an unpermitted event for which a permit is required by this chapter, where the person knows a permit has not been granted, will constitute an infraction and shall be punished as provided for in Chapter 1.08 of this code.

(Ord. CS-365 § 3, 2019)

If any section, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase of this chapter is for any reason held invalid or unconstitutional by the decision of any court of competent jurisdiction, the decision will not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this chapter. The City Council declares that it would have passed the ordinance codified in this chapter and each section, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase contained in it irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections, sentences, clauses or phrases are declared invalid or unconstitutional.

(Ord. CS-365 § 3, 2019)