Demonstrations, marches, parades, processions, and rallies are regularly conducted on the City’s streets, sidewalks, parks, and other public property each year. Although such activities involve free speech rights, the City has the ability to impose content-neutral time, place, and manner regulations to promote substantial government interests including the following: protecting the safety, comfort, and convenience of persons using streets, sidewalks, parks, and other public property; regulating competing uses of public fora; maintaining public property in an attractive and intact condition; preventing unreasonable interferences with residential properties and lawful businesses; and defraying the cost of certain departmental services provided for the activities.
On December 5, 2017, the City Council unanimously introduced the attached Ordinance No. 1201 to add a new Chapter 12.28 to the City Code to establish public assembly regulations consistent with federal and state court precedents. The key components of these regulations are as follows:
- An assembly permit requirement for public assemblies that meet certain criteria
- Prohibitions on the carrying or possession of certain items at a public assembly
- Prohibitions on certain conduct at a public assembly
- Restrictions on the use of sound amplification devices at a public assembly
- An indemnity requirement
- A departmental services reimbursement requirement
For purposes of these regulations, the term “public assembly” is defined as a demonstration, march, parade, procession, or rally that assembles or travels in unison on a street, sidewalk, park, public right-of-way, or other public property owned or controlled by the City and that meets any one of three criteria. The first criteria is that the activity does not comply with applicable traffic laws, regulations, or controls. The second is that the activity takes place on public property in Downtown Brea and involves 30 or more participants (this criteria reflects the City Council’s direction to revise the 20 participant threshold proposed by staff). The last is that the activity takes place on public property outside of Downtown Brea and involves 75 or more participants. There is a lower threshold for Downtown Brea because, due to the unique and compact nature of that area, public assemblies there can be unreasonably disruptive with fewer participants than public assemblies elsewhere.
These regulations will exempt certain public assemblies from the permit requirement. For example, no permit will be required to conduct a public assembly at the City Hall plaza in response to news or affairs coming into public knowledge within three days prior to such public assembly. There also are exemptions for public assemblies in facilities rented from the City, for activities conducted pursuant to a film permit issued by the City, and for funeral processions. In accordance with the City Council’s direction, if an exemption is not applicable, then the permit application will have to be submitted at least four days prior to the proposed public assembly regardless of the location of the event.
The regulations include many measures to promote public safety. These include a prohibition on the carrying or possession, at a public assembly, of certain items that would be particularly dangerous if used as a weapon. There also will be a prohibition on the carrying or possession, at a public assembly, of gas masks and similar devices that could be used thwart riot control efforts by law enforcement officers. Further, the regulations will prohibit certain conduct at a public assembly such as giving traffic control instructions to non-participants of such assembly.
To prevent unreasonable interference with residential properties and lawful businesses, the regulations will restrict the time and manner in which sound amplification devices may be used at a public assembly. These restrictions will ensure that such devices are not used in the late evening or early morning hours, and that they are not used in a manner that is unduly incompatible with surrounding areas.
Finally, the regulations will require permittees to execute an indemnity agreement and to reimburse the City for any fire safety and traffic control costs associated with their public assembly. The indemnity agreement will protect the City against damages and liabilities that may be caused by the permittee or by the permittee’s officers, employees, or agents. A permittee will be exempt from the indemnity agreement requirement if the permittee cooperates with the City to design the public assembly to respond to public health and safety threats identified by the City. The departmental service charges reimbursement requirement will allow the City to recover its fire safety and traffic control costs if it provides these critical services for a public assembly |