Explanation
Background:
This ordinance will amend Columbus City code Section 923.03 authorizing the Director of Recreation and Parks to issue permits for event block party requests between the hours of 12:01 am to 8:00 am for the purposes of accommodating event set-up/clean-up and early morning starts for charity walks, races, cycling events and when such requests are deemed to benefit the City of Columbus. The type of event activity occurring during this time will be regulated through policy.
This ordinance also authorizes the Director of Recreation and Parks to issue block party street closure permits that exceed five (5) consecutive days to qualifying applicants and to remove Code language defining the content of the permit application. Such changes are expected to streamline the processing for the Recreation and Parks Department, City Council and the organizations that apply for a variance annually.
This ordinance seeks to extend the application filing deadline from five (5) to seven (7) work days in order to allow staff more time to provide notice of approved street closures to other city departments.
This ordinance is submitted as an emergency in order to change codes prior to the first event requiring a block party street closure permit in 2007.
Fiscal Impact:
N/A
Title
To repeal and replace Section 923.03 of the Columbus City Codes to grant the Director of Recreation and Parks the authority to determine the duration and hours of block party street closures, and to declare an emergency.
Body
WHEREAS, an emergency exists in the usual daily operation of the Recreation and Parks Department in that it is immediately necessary to repeal and replace Chapter Section 923.03 of the Columbus City Codes to reflect changes granting the Director of Recreation and Parks the authority to determine the duration and hours of block party street closures prior to the first event in 2007; now, therefore
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS:
SECTION 1. That Chapter Section 923.03 of the Columbus City Codes be repealed and replaced to read as follows:
BLOCK PARTY STREET CLOSURES
(A) No person shall use any public street to conduct a block party, as defined in Section 923.01, without first obtaining a block party permit.
(B) No person shall use any public street to conduct a block party, as defined in Section 923.01, without first closing the public street by the use of barricades meeting the standards set forth by the transportation administrator.
(C) No permit shall be issued for a block party requiring the closing of a public thoroughfare as set forth in the City of Columbus thoroughfare plan without first obtaining the documented express written approval of the Columbus division of police, the Columbus division of fire safety and the Columbus transportation administrator division of transportation. Under no circumstances (D) No street shall any street be closed for more than five (5) consecutive days without the documented permission from the Director of Recreation and Parks.(E) No block party activity shall be conducted between the hours of 12:01 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. without the documented permission from the Director of Recreation and Parks
(D) (F) Application for a block party permit shall be made at the office of the department of recreation and parks upon the forms provided. The application shall be filed not less than five (5) seven (7) work days before the date of the block party. Applications filed less than five (5) work days prior to the date of the block party will only be accepted if the application can be reasonably processed in the remaining time.
E) The application shall as a minimum include:
(1) The name, and address, and phone number of the person in charge of the block party;
(2) The date when the block party will be conducted;
(3) The time the block party will begin and the time it will end; and
(4) The street location where the block party will be conducted. ; and
(5) A site map defining closure boundaries
(1) The applicant has met the requirements of the completed the block party application and paid the required fees;
(2) The applicant has submitted a petition bearing the signatures of eighty (80) percent of the property owners or tenants, or building managers whose property adjoins the public street being closed. A petition with less than the required signatures may be accepted provided the applicant has demonstrated a good faith effort in attempting to contact the property owners or tenants or building managers who did not sign the petition;
(3) The applicant has executed the indemnity agreement required under Section 923.04. (Ord. 1524-96; Ord. 1909-01 ยง 1 (part).)
(H) The Recreation and Parks Department will only approve festival or event block parties between the hours of 12:01 am and 8:00 am to accommodate event set-up, clean-up, and when it is determined that the proposed activities do not adversely affect the citizens of Columbus. Residential block parties must end by midnight.
SECTION 2. That for the reasons stated in the preamble hereto, which is hereby made a part hereof, this ordinance is hereby declared to be an emergency measure and shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage and approval by the Mayor, or ten days after passage if the Mayor neither approves nor vetoes the same.