San Diego County Municipal Code Ch. 2 Community Events

(a) "Community event" means an event sponsored by a nonprofit organization or any agency of the federal, State or local government that takes place at a fixed location for four consecutive days or less and is open to the general public.

(b) "Nonprofit organization" means a nonprofit organization that is exempt from taxation pursuant to sections 23701a, 23701b, 23701d, 23701e, 23701f, 23701g, 23701k, 23701l, 23701t, or 23701w of the California Revenue and Taxation Code.

(c) "Temporary Agritourism Community Event" means a temporary, publicly accessible for-profit, event that is supplemental to permitted Agricultural Tourism activities, as allowed by Zoning Ordinance Section 6157b.

(Added by Ord. No. 7781 (N.S.), effective 7-24-90; amended by Ord. No. 7815 (N.S.), effective 10-25-90; amended by Ord. No. 8654 (N.S.), effective 4-18-96; amended by Ord. No. 9889 (N.S.), effective 10-26-07; amended by Ord. No. 10658 (N.S.), effective 3-13-20; amended by Ord. No. 10822 (N.S.), effective 1-13-23)

Cross reference(s)--Definitions, § 12.101 et seq.

A community event requires a permit for which the County Department of Environmental Health and Quality (Department) is the Issuing Officer. A community event less than four hours in duration, however, does not require a permit under this chapter. Community event permits are not subject to sections 21.101-21.117, but some of those sections as designated below, may be applied to this chapter.

(Added by Ord. No. 7781 (N.S.), effective 7-24-90; amended by Ord. No. 7815 (N.S.), effective 10-25-90; amended by Ord. No. 8654 (N.S.), effective 4-18-96; amended by Ord. No. 9889 (N.S.), effective 10-26-07; amended by Ord. No. 10709 (N.S.), effective 1-15-21)

(a) An applicant for a community event permit shall submit an application at least 30 days before the first day of the proposed event on a form provided by the Department. With the application form the applicant shall also submit additional information required by the Department, depending on the type of event, to determine whether or not the applicant is entitled to a permit under this chapter.

(b) As part of the application process the applicant shall also provide:

(1) Proof of the organization's nonprofit status,

(2) Proof of insurance coverage, if required under section 21.205.

(c) The application shall not be deemed complete until all information required by paragraphs (a) and (b) have been submitted to the Department.

(d) The Department and other County departments from which the Department requests assistance may follow the investigatory procedures in section 21.107 and any other investigatory procedures they deem necessary to investigate the application.

(Added by Ord. No. 7781 (N.S.), effective 7-24-90; amended by Ord. No. 7815 (N.S.), effective 10-25-90; amended by Ord. No. 7859 (N.S.), effective 3-14-91; amended by Ord. No. 8654 (N.S.), effective 4-18-96; amended by Ord. No. 9889 (N.S.), effective 10-26-07; amended by Ord. No. 10709 (N.S.), effective 1-15-21)

(a) The Department may deny a permit for a community event if additional information required by the Department to make the application complete is not timely submitted.

(b) The Department may deny a permit for a community event based upon any of the grounds stated in section 21.108 or if it determines one of the following conditions may occur, which the applicant is unable to mitigate against:

(1) The event will cause an increase in the amount of pedestrian and/or vehicular traffic that will likely present a threat to public health or safety to event attendees, participants, area residents or others in the vicinity where the event is proposed to occur.

(2) The event will require diverting a significant number of law enforcement personnel from their normal duties that will likely prevent reasonable law enforcement protection to the community in the area where the event is proposed.

(c) The Department may also deny a permit for a community event if the applicant violated this code or State law during a previous community event and is unable to demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Department that it would not violate this code or State law if the Department were to issue a permit for the event.

(d) If the Department denies a community event permit it shall follow the procedures under section 21.110. An applicant denied a permit under this chapter may appeal by following the appeal procedure provided in sections 21.110(a) and 21.116.

(e) The Department shall issue or deny the permit within 15 days after the application is complete.

(Added by Ord. No. 7781 (N.S.), effective 7-24-90; amended by Ord. No. 7815 (N.S.), effective 10-25-90; amended by Ord. No. 7859 (N.S.), effective 3-14-91; amended by Ord. No. 8654 (N.S.), effective 4-18-96; amended by Ord. No. 9889 (N.S.), effective 10-26-07; amended by Ord. No. 10412 (N.S.), effective 2-26-16; amended by Ord. No. 10709 (N.S.), effective 1-15-21)

The County's Risk Management Division of the Department of Human Resources, in its sole discretion shall determine whether insurance coverage is necessary, the amount of insurance and whether a proposed insurance policy complies with the requirements of this section. The insurance necessary to comply with this section is commercial general liability insurance. If alcoholic beverages are served at a community event, the County may also require liquor liability insurance. The insurance coverage shall insure the applicant and all event entertainers, vendors, solicitors and all other participants against loss resulting from liability for damages for bodily injury or death and property damage incurred by any person arising from the event. Any insurance policy required by this section shall name the County as an additional insured.

(Added by Ord. No. 7781 (N.S.), effective 7-24-90; amended by Ord. No. 7815 (N.S.), effective 10-25-90; amended by Ord. No. 8654 (N.S.), effective 4-18-96; amended by Ord. No. 9889 (N.S.), effective 10-26-07)

(a) The Department may revoke a community event permit if it determines that:

(1) One or more of the applicable grounds for revoking a permit in section 21.112 exist,

(2) The permittee is unable to mitigate against the conditions in section 21.204(a) that the Department found would likely occur, or,

(3) The permittee has violated or is violating this code or State law.

(b) If the Department revokes a community event permit it shall give notice in writing stating the reasons why the permit has been revoked. If under the circumstances the Department cannot provide notice before revoking a permit it shall provide notice as soon as practicable after the revocation occurs.

(c) A permittee whose permit is revoked may appeal by following the appeal procedure provided in sections 21.110(a) and 21.116.

(Added by Ord. No. 7781 (N.S.), effective 7-24-90; amended by Ord. No. 7815 (N.S.), effective 10-25-90; amended by Ord. No. 8654 (N.S.), effective 4-18-96; amended by Ord. No. 9889 (N.S.), effective 10-26-07; amended by Ord. No. 10709 (N.S.), effective 1-15-21)

As a condition of the permit the permittee shall be required to clean and restore the location where the event occurs, including the surrounding areas and any adjacent roadways to the same condition as existed before the event. If the permittee fails to comply with this condition the County may bill the permittee for any costs the County incurs for clean-up and restoration. A permittee's failure to comply with this condition may constitute additional grounds for the Department to deny a future permit or may result in the permittee being required to post security as a condition for approval of a future event permit.

(Added by Ord. No. 7781 (N.S.), effective 7-24-90; amended by Ord. No. 7815 (N.S.), effective 10-25-90; amended by Ord. No. 8654 (N.S.), effective 4-18-96; amended by Ord. No. 9889 (N.S.), effective 10-26-07; amended by Ord. No. 10709 (N.S.), effective 1-15-21)

A nonprofit organization shall be entitled to conduct a maximum of six community events within a 12 month period.

(Added by Ord. No. 7815 (N.S.), effective 10-25-90; amended by Ord. No. 7859 (N.S.), effective 3-14-91; amended by Ord. No. 8654 (N.S.), effective 4-18-96; amended by Ord. No. 9889 (N.S.), effective 10-26-07)