6.a) Draft Ordinance Regulating Special Events Meeting Date: 8/4/2009
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City Council Agenda Report
City of Scandia
14727 209`h St. North
Scandia, MN 55073 (651) 433-2274
Action Requested: Review and provide comments on the draft ordinance regulating
special events.
Deadline/Timeline: N/A
Background: • Scandia does not currently have an ordinance regulating special
events, such as outdoor concerts. Such events have the potential
to negatively impact surrounding property and affect public safety.
• The City does have a noise ordinance, which applies to outdoor
entertainment events (amplified sound audible at the property line
is prohibited between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m.) The City also
recently began requiring park user permits for lazge events (over
100 attendees) at the Community Center and other city park sites.
• The 2008 amended Conditional Use Permit (CUP) for Meister's
Bar and Grill has a condition dealing with events, which reads as
follows: "The City may set parameters on events, including but
not limited to event hours, number of attendees,parking, traf�"ic
control, temporary lighting, waste management, noise, temporary
signage, or other potential impacts on health, safety, and general
welfare. Meister's will provide the City with an annual list of
events and description of the events to address these factors. If in
the future the City requires a permit for events, events at Meister's
must comply with those requirements. "
� Meister's provided the City with a list of its 2009 events in May.
The list included three major events (wrestling/ live music on May
30; Taco Daze, September 11 & 12; a Halloween event, October
30), outdoor live music on June 20 (in conjunction with a golf
tournament) and potentially other non-specified weekends May
through October. The schedule posed some concerns, as it
included the potential for a large number of outdoor events. The
city has received complaints about noise from outdoor events at
Meister's.
� The Council directed staff to begin researching an outdoor events
ordinance that could be used to regulate such activities at
Meister's and at other locations. Staff reviewed code language
from a number of nearby communities including Forest Lake,
Hugo, Marine on St. Croix, Wyoming, Lindstrom, Lino Lakes and
Page 1 of 2
07/30/09
East Bethel. The Council discussed staffls initial findings at their
June 2 meeting, and directed staff to draft an ordinance that takes a
broad approach to the wide range of possible outdoor events and
the potential issues they pose.
• The draft ordinance attached to this report would regulate a wide
range of special events. Some aspects of the draft ordinance that
the Commission and Council may wish to discuss are:
- Definition of special event—the size (number of participants)
of an event would need to be added to the ordinance. Other
ordinances reviewed specified from 50 to 500 participants;
some do not include a minimum number at all.
- Definition of special event—the list of covered events is
extensive. Are there others that should be added? Are there
other types of events that should be excluded, in addition to
private parties?
- Permit fee—how much should be charged? Some cities do not
charge for permits, others charge more(East Bethel, for
example, charges $150.00.) Any fee should be reasonably
related to the cost of issuing the permit and monitoring the
activity.
- Conditions for issuance of permit—The draft ordinance
provides a list of issues for potential conditions, but does not
proscribe them in advance given the wide variety of types of
events that would be covered. Are there other items that
should be added to this list?
- Exceptions to the permit requirement—Should the list of
exceptions be expanded,or reduced?
- Restriction on number of special events—The City could
choose to set a limit on the number of amplified events, non-
amplified events,both, or neither.
- Denial of application—Are there other reasons that the City
might deny a special event permit?
Recommendation: The Planning Commission and City Council should review and
discuss the draft ordinance and provide direction to staff for a final
draft to be considered for adoption at a future meeting.
Attachments/ • Draft Ordinance Establishing Rules and Regulations for Special
Materials provided: Events
• E-mail dated 6/15/09 from Mike Olson, received through City
website
• "County Planning Commission members do not recommend a
Special Events Permit to county board after months of discussion
and review of need for permit,"Chisago County Press, June 2009
Contact(s):
Prepared by: Anne Hurlburt, Administrator
(special events ordinance draft)
Page 2 of 2
07/30/09
CITY OF SCANDIA
ORDINANCE NO.: XXX
AN ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING RULES AND REGULATIONS
FOR SPECIAL EVENTS
The City Council of the City of Scandia, Washington County, Minnesota hereby ordains:
Section 1. PURPOSE. The purpose of this ordinance is to protect the health, safety and welfare
of the citizens of the City of Scandia by regulating the time,place and manner of special events
and by establishing permit requirements for conducting such events.
Section 2. DEFINITIONS. For the purpose of this ordinance, the following definitions shall
apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning:
APPLICANT shall mean any person or organization who seeks a permit to
conduct or sponsor a special event within the City.
AMPLIFIED EVENT shall mean any special event that includes electronically
amplified music and/or voices.
NON-AMPLIFIED EVENT shall mean any special event that does not include
electronically amplified music and/or voices.
SPECIAL EVENT shall mean an outdoor gathering of at least (number)
individuals whether on public or private property, assembled with a common purpose for
a period of one hour or longer but not exceeding twelve hours in duration. Special Events
include,but are not limited to concerts, theatrical productions,public dances, fairs,
carnivals, circuses,pazades, flea markets, auctions,marathons, walkathons, festivals,
races,bicycle events, celebrations, or any other gathering or events of similar nature.
Special Events do not include events that are not open to the public and held on private
property such as graduation parties or social parties.
Section 3. PERMIT REQUIRED. No person shall hold, conduct or participate in a special
event within the city unless a permit has been issued for such event upon timely written
application made to the city.
Subdivision 1. Application for Permit. Each written application for a special event
permit must be made at least 30 days in advance of the event's proposed date in a form
prescribed by the City Clerk. This application period shall not begin to run until a complete
application has been filed with the city. A fee, as established by City Council resolution from
time to time, shall be paid to the city along with the completed application form. In addition to
the fee, the applicant shall pay all additional costs incurred by the city as a direct result of the
special event. Failure to provide a complete application or to pay the fee, as herein required, is
sufficient reason to deny the special event permit.
Draft 7/30/2009
Draft Special Events Ordinance
Page 2 of 3
Subdivision 2. Issuance of Permit, Conditions. Special event permits will be issued
upon City Council approval. The Council may attach reasonable conditions to the permit as are
deemed necessary to protect the health, safety and welfare of the community and of event
participants. Such conditions may pertain to any of the following:
a) Location and hours during which the event may be held;
b) Sanitation/availability of potable water;
c) Security/crowd management;
d) Parking and traffic issues;
e) Emergency and medical services;
fl Clean-up of premises and sunounding area/trash disposal;
g) Insurance;
h) Lighting;
i) Fire service/safety;
j) Temporary construction,barricades/fencing;
k) Removal of advertising/promotional materials;
1) Noise levels;
m) Alcohol consumption;
n) Notification of residents or businesses;
o) Any other conditions which the Council deems necessary.
Subdivision 3. Exceptions to the Permit Requirement. The permit requirement
contained in this ordinance does not apply to the following:
a) Special events sponsored and managed by the city;
b) Funerals and funeral processions;
c) Events on the grounds of any school, community center, museum,place of worship,
conference center, stadium, athletic field, arena, auditorium or similar place of
assembly when used for regularly established assembly purposes.
d) Events for which the City has issued a Park User Permit as provided by city
ordinance.
Subdivision 4. Restriction on Number of Special Events. No more than
amplified events and no more than non-amplified special events shall be permitted at
one location in any one calendar year.
Subdivision 5. Denial of Application. A permit may be denied based upon a
determination that:
a) The event would endanger public safety;
b) The event would unreasonably inconvenience the general public;
c) The event would unreasonably infringe upon the rights of abutting properties;
d) The event would conflict with another proximate event or interfere with construction
or maintenance work;
e) There are not sufficient safety personnel or other necessary staff to accommodate the
event;
� The applicant has violated a condition of this ordinance or a special event permit
issued to the applicant within the last 12 months;
g) The property on which the event is to take place or the owners of the property on
which the event is to take place is delinquent in the payment of property taxes,
Draft 7/30/2009
Draft Special Events Ordinance
Page 3 of 3
assessments, employment taxes or other financial claims of the City and or other
public agencies.
h) The applicant has failed to present acceptable evidence of compliance with Workers'
compensation insurance requirements, as applicable.
i) Other issues in the public interest were identified by the city council.
Subdivision 6. Indemnification and Insurance.
a) The petmit holder shall agree to defend, indemnify and hold the City, its officers and
employees hannless from any liability, claim, damages, costs,judgments, or
expenses, including attorney's fees,resulting directly or indirectly from an act or
omission including, without limitation, professional errors and omissions of event
promoter, its agents, employees, arising out of or by any reason of the conduct of the
activity authorized by such permit and against all loss caused in any way be reason of
the failure of the event promoter to fully perform all obligations under this ordinance.
b) As a condition of the granting of a permit for a special event conducted on public
property or public streets or parking lots, the permit holder shall provide to the City a
public liability insurance policy naming the City as an additional insured entity with
limits of not less than one million dollars per occurrence.
Section 4. PENALTY. Any person who violates any condition of a special event permit or any
provision of this chapter shall be guilty of a misdemeanor punishable as prescribed by Minnesota
State Law. Enforcement of this ordinance may, at the Council's discretion, take any of the
following forms:
a) Citation/criminal prosecution;
b) Injunctions, declaratory judgments or other civil remedies;
c) Permit revocation; or
d) Disbursement of persons gathered.
Section 5. EFFECTIVE DATE. This ordinance shall be in full force and effect upon its
adoption and publication according to law.
Passed and adopted by the City Council of the City of Scandia this day of
, 2009.
Dennis D. Seefeldt, Mayor
ATTEST:
Anne Hurlburt, Clerk/Administrator
Drafr 7/30/2009
Anne Hurlburt
From: Please Do Not Click Reply[support@govoffice.com]
Sent: Monday, June 15, 2009 8:26 PM
To: mail@ci.scandia.mn.us
Subject: Feedback Form (form) has been filled out on your site.
Your Site has received new information through an online form.
Online Form: Feedback Form
Site URL: www.ci.scandia.mn.us
-------------------------------------------------
First Name: Mike
Last Name: Olson
Address: Lent Township
Zip Code: 55079
E-Mail: molson3@gmail.com
Comments: Hello,
2 just wanted to comment and share with you what I've learned on the implementation of an
"Event Permit� � I attended the Chisago County Planning and Zoning meeting a couple of
weeks ago when they were trying to set their event permit up. After much conversation and
uncertainty they opened the floor to the residents of Chisago County, the citizens
comments brought something's up the board hadn't thought about. I'll touch on a few, A
family get together is an event and can be very large, Do you limit the amount of people
attending; do you send personal there for the day to count the people and what to do with
the over attendance? This will definitely be a very busy time around graduations, holidays
and so forth.
Auctioneers; they have over one hundred auctions a year (in Chisago) Do you try and
regulate the amount of people and where it can be held? Pretty tough and yet it could very
well fall under the event permit specs! Now let's just touch base with what I found on
your web site. The National Sports Center Velo Bicycle Racing Club, Taco Days, Three city
owned ball fields and their organized leagues and tournaments, Scandia/Senior Community
Center for groups and organizations, Picnic shelters and city owned parks. These all have
events of some kind that can and will fall under the event regulations. How about charity
events, they work hard on these events to bring in money for people that really need it,
do you skim the earnings for the permit costs? Really can't exclude charity events can
you?
The city may exclude some of these events from the permit because it's a city ran event
but you may want to have a policy of some sort in effect to avoid discrimination or
favoritism. The other thing is the time element to issue these permits; an auction can
occur in less than 3 weeks, is the trail to a permit going to be fluid enough to provide
this permit in time? The County played out getting the permit through its normal course,
Administration, P&Z for all the conditions and then the supervisors' for approval, long
trip indeed if you make all the regular meetings to get that approval. Comments made were
that this event permit might just make people go elsewhere for their event, now we've
taken away revenue from the already struggling small businesses in our community.
The County decided to "Bury^ the event permit and go with the interim permit which is a
transitional or temporary period between events, this way you can put an ending date to
the event, unlike a conditional use permit. If you'd like to pass this along to
Administrator Anne Hurlburt it may help her in making decisions that will very much mold
the permit. I hope this helps, it wasn't to be in any way negative, just some things you
may run into once it's in affect.
Hope all goes well,
Mike Olson
Do Not Click Reply - This e-mail has been generated from an online form.
1
, Chisago County Press, Lindstrom, MN � County Planning Commission members do not recommen... Page 1 of 2
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County Planning Commission members do not recommend a
Special Events Permit to county board after months of
discussion and review of need for permit
BY ERIC VARGO
Correspondent
June's County Planning Commission meeting was devoted to the the counry drafting an ordinance on Event Licensing, a
possible tool for managing large events and gatherings in the county. Members of the County Board recently asked the
Planning Commission to look into the feasibility of Event Licenses, and it has been discussed at the last few Commission
meetings.
In theory and as used in other counties, an Event License would be a one-time permit to hold an event or gathering at a
certain date and place within the county. Ho�ding the event again would require a new Event License. Currently the county
uses Conditional Use Permits, which allow a certain property to be used for a certain purpose, under conditions, indefinitely.
Recent state law changes have allowed counties to use Interim Use Permits, which act like a CUP but expire when a set
time period, event, or condition occurs.
Not all Planning Commission members agreed on the purpose of enacting Event Licensing, nor how to apply it.
Commission member Jim Klinke felt that licensing was intended to recoup costs incurred by the county when hosting large
events, such as law enforcement and traffic management. County Commissioner Mike Robinson reiterated the opinion that
it was intended to inhibit the SnoBarons Snowmobile Club's Hay Days event, which was already approved for a CUP in
February. He later stated that he felt it was "unfair to change the rules on them"after due process had been followed.
Commission member Craig Mold stated that the costs of regulating and monitoring events under an Event License would
outweigh any income generated by a license fee. The accuracy of attendance estimates was also called into question, with
a fee possibly encouraging event holders to give low numbers to avoid needing a license. Most counties that use Event
Licensing charge a fee to cover costs, but it has been pointed out that a fee is not mandatory and some counties do not
charge one.
Robinson asked whether events that have already been approved, such as the Amador Apple Festival and SnoBarons' Hay
Days rally, would be exempt or included under an Event License ordinance. County Planner Pat Hollister replied that
licensing would probably be applied retroactively.
Lee Ann VandeKamp Amador Township, spoke on the issue as a local business owner. She stated that the auctioneering
company she and her husband Bob own would not be able to operate effectively if a license was required for each of the
approximately 50 auctions they held in the county each year, many on short notice. She also felt that charity events would
suffer and she named events and organizations that would be unable to pay an Event License fee. Mike Olson of Lent
township spoke next, agreeing with VandeKamp. It was asked whether self-regulating townships would be affected by
Event Licensing.Assistant Zoning Director Tara Guy responded that licensing would affect only county permit events and
would not trump township land use ordinances.
After some discussion, most Commission members agreed that Interim Use Permits were a cheaper and more effective
way to achieve the same goals as Event Licensing. However, Commission member Dave Whitney stated that he didn't want
the Commission to look into IUPs until the current Conditional Use Permit system had been reviewed. He felt that the CUP
language in the current zoning ordinance was too broad, and held "catchall"terms that made a CUP mandatory for things
that"don't fit". He felt the recent CUP for an upcoming women's retreat(drum night) in Amador was a good example, and
stated that the need for a CUP in that case was "unnecessary". He continued by stating CUP rules and definitions were a
more fundamental issue for land use and county planning and needed to be reviewed; saying "the door is way too open for
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Chisago County Press, Lindstrom, MN � County Planning Commission members do not recommen... Page 2 of 2 �
inconsistencies for who gets a CUP and who doesn't". Other Commission members agreed with Whitney. Klinke said that
"something in the system needs to be identified". Commission member Jim Froberg said "CUPs are forever, and I don't
want these things to be forever... ...what if it [the permitted activity] doesn't live up to expectations?What if the land is
sold?". This has been a core issue with some controversial CUPs, since the permit applies to the property indefinitely and
can be utilized by successive owners.
Commission member Frank Storm called a motion to end discussion on the Event Licensing topic. The motion passed, with
Whitney and Klinke opposed. Storm then made a motion to recommend to the County Board that Event Licensing was
unnecessary; this motion passed with the same opposition.
The Commission then began discussion on how to best reallocate activities between needing CUPs or IUPs. Questions
were asked about the legaliry of phasing out or revoking older and unused CUPs, but it was determined that this was not
legally possible. A short discussion on Administrative Permits followed, and in the end it was decided that county staff
would have a draft of potential CUP language changes ready for the next meeting.
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