Simi Valley Municipal Code Ch. 1 Public Parks

(a) The provisions of this chapter shall apply to and be in full force and effect at all public schools and open space areas which are now or which may hereafter be within the City, including all grounds, roadways, avenues, parks, buildings, campgrounds, swimming pools, equestrian trails, bicycle trails, hiking trails, school facilities when they are in use as recreational or educational facilities, and areas under the control, management, or direction of the Simi Valley Unified School District or the Simi Valley Recreation and Park District. The provisions of this chapter shall govern the use of all such public school facilities and recreation and park areas, and the observance of such provisions shall be a condition under which the public may use such recreation and park areas.

(b) The provisions of this chapter shall not apply to any public officer, employee, or peace officer who is acting in the course of, and within the scope of, the public business, nor to any other person conducting public business or related activities for, on behalf of, and pursuant to the lawful authority of an appropriate public entity.

(§ 6311-1, S.V.M.C., as amended by § 1, Ord. 193)

(a) Required. No person shall hold, conduct, participate in, attend, or address any meeting, organized gathering or assemblage, group picnic, celebration, parade, service, or exercise of fifty (50) or more persons in any public school or recreation or park area without a permit granted pursuant to the provisions of this chapter by the Superintendent of Schools or the General Manager of the Simi Valley Recreation and Park District.

(b) Granting: Authority. The Superintendent of Schools or the General Manager of the Simi Valley Recreation and Park District, acting personally or by his delegated designee, shall have the authority to grant permits, for the respective facilities under his direction, authorizing any person, society, association, or organization to hold or conduct a meeting, organized gathering or assemblage, group picnic, celebration, parade, service, or exercise for the observance of or commemoration of any public celebration, event, or demonstration of a patriotic, municipal, or memorial character or for social, educational, training, entertainment, or recreational purposes.

(c) Granting: Criteria. Applications for such permits shall be granted unless the issuing authority determines:

(1) That the requested activity is inconsistent and incompatible with proper and appropriate school facility or recreation and park area uses at the location applied for;

(2) That the requested activity is unreasonable and will interfere with the general use of the school facility or recreation or park area by other individual or group members of the public;

(3) That the requested activity would not comply with the provisions of this Code or other laws, policies, rules, or regulations in effect at the time and place the activity is to be conducted;

(4) That the requested activity would be reasonably anticipated to incite violence, crime, or disorderly conduct;

(5) That the requested activity would entail unusual, extraordinary, or burdensome expense or police operation by the City; or

(6) That the granting of the permit would be detrimental to the public interest.

(§ 6313, S.V.M.C., as amended by § 1, Ord. 193)

It shall be unlawful for any person within the limits of public schools, parks, recreation areas, and open spaces which are now or which may hereafter be within the City, including all grounds, roadways, avenues, parks, buildings, campgrounds, swimming pools, equestrian trails, bicycle trails, hiking trails, and school facilities under the control, management, or direction of either the Simi Valley Unified School District and the Simi Valley Recreation and Park District:

(a) To ride or drive any horse or other animal or to propel any vehicle, cycle, or automobile, except at a place and time especially designated and provided for such purpose;

(b) To carry or discharge any firearm, air gun, slingshot, or other device designed or intended to discharge, or capable of discharging, any dangerous missile, except in such places so designated by the Simi Valley Unified School District or the Simi Valley Recreation and Park District; provided, however, the provisions of this subsection shall not apply to any peace officer or other person lawfully licensed to carry a concealed weapon or who regularly carries a weapon in connection with private or public employment to protect the property or persons;

(c) To make or kindle a fire, except in a picnic stove, brazier, fire pit, or other appropriate device provided or approved for that purpose by the Simi Valley Unified School District or the Simi Valley Recreation and Park District;

(d) To play or engage in the flying of motorized or self-propelled model airplanes or rockets or motorized self-propelled model cars and boats, the driving of golf balls, archery, baseball, softball, football, soccer, volleyball, or any similar game of a hazardous nature, except at such places and times as shall be especially set apart for such purposes;

(e) To play or bet at or against any game which is played, conducted, dealt, or carried on with cards, dice, or other device for money, chips, shells, credit, or any other representative of value or to maintain or exhibit any gambling table or other instrument of gambling or gaming;

(f) To post, place, or erect, or to leave posted, placed, or erected, any commercial or noncommercial bill, handbill, circular, notice, paper, or advertising device or matter of any kind in or upon any building, structure, pole, wire, or other architectural or natural feature of whatever character, except upon a bulletin board of such place especially designated and provided for such purposes, unless prior approval so to do has been obtained from the Superintendent of Schools or the General Manager of the Simi Valley Recreation and Park District for the facilities under his direction, which approval shall be given only if the Superintendent of Schools or the General Manager of the Simi Valley Recreation and Park District determines that it would be affirmatively in the public interest to allow the use of public property for such purposes, or that constitutional principles require that the same be allowed;

(g) To sell or offer for sale any merchandise, article, or thing whatsoever or to practice, carry on, conduct, or solicit for any trade, occupation, business, or profession, unless such activity has been expressly allowed by a permit issued by the Simi Valley Unified School District or the Simi Valley Recreation and Park District; and

(h) To remain, stay, or loiter or to allow to remain any automobile or other conveyance, except in the case of an emergency, in a school facility between the hours of sundown and 7:00 a.m., or in a Simi Valley Recreation and Park District facility between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and dawn of the following day, or as otherwise posted, except while attending a gathering or meeting for which a permit has been issued or which is being sponsored or conducted by the Simi Valley Unified School District or the Simi Valley Recreation and Park District for the facilities under their respective control.

(§ 6315, S.V.M.C., as amended by § 1, Ord. 193, and § 1, Ord. 237 C.O., eff. February 11, 1976)

No person shall drive or operate any motor vehicle, motorcycle, or motor-drive cycle, as defined in the Vehicle Code of the State, or any other motorized or self-propelled vehicle or device upon which a person can ride, on, over, or along any public property or easement, whether or not or a public school or public recreation or park area, which has been designated, set aside, or is used as a pedestrian walkway, trail, path, lane, or way or as an equestrian trail, path, lane, or way.

(§ 6316, S.V.M.C., as added by § 1, Ord. 193)

(a) The Simi Valley Unified School District and the Simi Valley Recreation and Park District shall have the power and authority to promulgate policies, rules, and regulations governing the use and enjoyment by the public and by individual members of the public of school facilities, recreation areas, parks, open space areas, and recreation or community centers, or any portion thereof, or governing the use and enjoyment of any building, structure, equipment, apparatus, or appliance thereon, or governing any portion of the foregoing. A copy of such policies, rules, and regulations, or a synopsis thereof, shall be posted in some conspicuous place at or near the premises where such policies, rules, and regulations are to be effective, or, in lieu thereof, signs or notices may be posted at or near such premises in order to give the public notice of such policies, rules, and regulations.

(b) No person having knowledge of or having been advised of any such rule or regulation promulgated pursuant to the provisions of subsection (a) of this section shall disobey, violate, or fail to comply with any such policy, rule, or regulation. Any person disobeying, violating, or failing to comply with any such policy, rule, or regulation shall be subject to being removed or ejected from the area by the Superintendent of Schools or the General Manager of the Simi Valley Recreation and Park District, or their designee.

(§ 6314, S.V.M.C., as amended by § 1, Ord. 193)

(a) Power and authority is hereby given to the Superintendent of Schools and the General Manager of the Simi Valley Recreation and Park District, and their personnel, in their discretion, to eject and expel from such school facilities and recreation and park areas, or buildings thereon, any person who shall violate any of the provisions of this chapter or any other law or rule which may be in effect or may hereafter be passed or adopted for the regulation and government of such school facilities and recreation and park areas or of public places in general. In addition to his ordinary powers of arrest or citation, any peace officer enforcing the provisions of this chapter shall be authorized, in lieu of arresting or citing any violator, in his discretion, to so eject and expel such violator.

(b) No person being ejected or expelled pursuant to the authority of subsection (a) of this section shall refuse to leave as ordered, nor shall any person who has been so ejected or expelled return, during the calendar day in which he was ejected, to the same school facility, recreation or park area, or building unless specifically permitted to do so by the person who ejected him or by the Superintendent of Schools, or the General Manager of the Simi Valley Recreation and Park District, or their personnel.

(§ 6312, S.V.M.C., as amended by § 1, Ord. 193)