Sacramento Municipal Code Art. I General Provisions

A. The primary use and purpose of the City Hall facility is to conduct city business. The mayor and city council have their offices there, as do the charter officers and their staffs and several city departments that provide services citywide. In addition, the mayor and city council, the planning and design commission, and other city commissions, boards, and committees hold public meetings there. And occasionally the city uses the Plaza for its own programs and activities.

B. Because the City Hall facility serves as the seat of city government, the Plaza is often the site of public protests and demonstrations, not just on city issues but also on regional, state, and national affairs.

C. This chapter is enacted to reconcile these potentially competing uses. It is intended to allow members of the public to use the exterior of the City Hall facility for exercising their constitutional rights of free speech and assembly subject to reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions. At the same time, it is also intended to ensure a working environment for city employees that is free from unreasonable distraction and disruption; to ensure access to, and unobstructed use of, the City Hall facility; to preserve and protect the City Hall facility; to prevent dangerous, unlawful, or incompatible uses of the City Hall facility; to ensure financial accountability for damage to the City Hall facility; and to coordinate multiple uses of the Plaza so as to minimize the impact on city business and city employees. (Ord. 2012-040 § 1)

The following definitions apply in this chapter:

"Amplified sound" means speech, music, or other sound projected or transmitted by amplifiers, loud speakers, microphones, or similar devices or combinations of devices that are powered by electricity or combustible fuel and are designed to increase the volume, range, distance, or intensity of speech, music, or other sound.

"Applicant" means a person or organization that applies for a Plaza event permit.

"City Hall facility" means the real property and structures bounded by the public sidewalks adjacent to H and I Streets and 9th and 10th Streets in the city of Sacramento, and it includes Historic City Hall, New City Hall, Sa'Cumn'e Plaza, all walkways, and all landscaped areas.

"City manager" means the city manager or designee.

"Include" and its variants are terms of enlargement rather than of limitation. For example, "includes" means "includes, but not limited to," and "including" means "including, but not limited to."

"Peace officer" means a peace officer as defined under Section 830 and following of the California Penal Code.

"Permittee" means a person or organization that has been granted a Plaza event permit.

"Plaza" means the area of the City Hall facility between Historic City Hall and New City Hall that is known as Sa'Cumn'e Plaza and is bounded by the public sidewalks adjacent to 9th Street on the west and 10th Street on the east, including the arcade on the south side of New City Hall but excluding the landscaped areas, as depicted in the diagram labeled Exhibit 1 set out at the end of this chapter.

"Plaza event" means a gathering, celebration, or other event in the Plaza that begins and ends on the same day and is held in accordance with a Plaza event permit.

"Plaza event permit" means a permit that is issued under this chapter and allows the permittee to conduct a Plaza event. (Ord. 2012-040 § 1)