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Home My WebLink About2024-10-16 24-319 Ordinance24-319 10/16/2024 CITY COUNCIL ACTION Council Meeting Date: October 16, 2024 Item No:24-319 Responsible Dept: Legal Action Requested: Ordinance Map/Lot: N/A Title, Ordinance Amending City Code Chapter 231 (Public Parks) and Chapter 234 (Public Property) to Improve the Enforceability of the City's Event Permit Policy and for Added Safety in Public Parks and on Public Property Summary These ordinance amendments, if passed, would revise the City's Public Parks Ordinance and Public Property Ordinance to improve the enforceability of the City's Event Permit Policy, and would provide additional safety provisions for allowed activities in public parks and on public property. The proposed amendments would make violation of the City's Event Permit Policy a violation of the City Code, to improve the enforceability of the Event Permit Policy. The proposed changes would also update the civil penalty provisions for violations of the Public Parks and Public Property ordinances, by making such violations subject to the enforcement provisions of §9-26 of the City Code, which is the default enforcement provision for ordinance violations. A proposed change to the Public Parks ordinance would prohibit citizens from bringing in sharp objects, such as knives or needles, into City parks, as those objects might tend to be left where children or others using the park may be exposed to danger of injury. There are exceptions for knives with rounded blades or blunt edges without serration/teeth, such as butter knives or plastic cutlery, and for people authorized by the City to carry out necessary maintenance or repair work, as well as for City employees or agents authorized to set up or remove equipment required for an authorized, organized activity. Another proposed change adds hunting knives to the list of weapons already prohibited from being brought into City parks. Committee Action Committee: Government Operations Action: Recommended for approval Staff Comments & Approvals City Manager Meeting Date: 10/07/24 For: Against: City Solicitor Finance Director Introduced for: First Reading 24-319 10/16/2024 CITY COUNCIL ORDINANCE Date: October 16, 2024 Assigned to Councilor: Hawes ORDINANCE, Amending Chapter 231 (Public Parks) and Chapter 234 (Public Property) to Improve the Enforceability of the City's Event Permit Policy and for Added Safety in Public Parks and on Public Property WHEREAS, at present, the Public Parks Ordinance and the Public Property Ordinance do not require compliance with the Event Permit Policy; and WHEREAS, amending the Event Permit Policy would have added enforceability if these ordinance provisions required compliance with it; and WHEREAS, the proposed revisions to the Public Parks Ordinance would add to the safety of children and others using the parks; BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BANGOR AS FOLLOWS, THAT Chapter 231 of the Code of the City of Bangor is hereby amended as follows: § 231-6 Recreational activities and possession of sharp objects. No person in a park shall: A. Bathing and swimming. (1) Designated areas. Swim, bathe or wade in the waters of any fountain, pond, pool, stream or other body of water in or adjacent to any park or any tributary, stream, storm sewer or drain flowing into such waters, except in such waters and in such places as are specifically provided for swimming or bathing purposes and in compliance with such regulations as are herein set forth or may hereafter be adopted by the Director, nor shall any person frequent any waters or places customarily designated for the purposes of swimming or bathing or congregate thereat in such activities prohibited by the Director upon finding such use of the water would be dangerous or otherwise inadvisable. (2) Certain hours. Frequent any waters or places designated for the purposes of swimming or bathing or congregate thereat except between such hours of the day and on such conditions as shall be designated by the Director for such purposes for each individual park area. B. Hunting and firearms. Hunt, trap or pursue wildlife at any time. No person shall use, carry or possess firearms of any description or air rifles, spring guns, bows and arrows, hunting knives, slings or other forms of weapons potentially inimical to wildlife and dangerous to human safety or any instrument thaRt can be loaded with and fire a blank cartridge or any kind of trapping device. Shooting in park areas as defined herein is strictly forbidden. 24-319 10/16/2024 C. Camping. Set up tents, shacks or any other temporary shelter for the purpose of overnight camping, nor shall any person leave in a park after closing hours any movable structures or special vehicle that could be used for such purposes as a house trailer, camp trailer, tent or the like. Exception from the prohibitions of this subsection is made for camping trailers and/or vehicles parked at Bass Park in conjunction with organized activities, including harness racing, as may be approved by the Director. D. Sharp obiects. Carry into a park. possess. or use sharp obiects such as needles or knives. as those obiects mieht tend to be left where children or others using the park may be exposed to danger of injury, except this prohibition does not apply to (1) knives with rounded blades or blunt edges without serration/teeth, such as butter knives or plastic cutlery, (2) individuals authorized by the City to carry out necessary maintenance or repair work, and (3) City employees or agents authorized to set up or remove equipment required for an authorized, organized activity. § 231-9 Park operating policy. A. Hours. With the exception of Bass Park, Broad Street Park, and the Municipal Golf Course and except as provided in Subsection B below, all parks, as defined herein, shall be open to the public every day of the year from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., Eastern standard time or Eastern daylight time, as may be then in effect by virtue of 1 M.R.S.A. § 151. Access by the public to the Municipal Golf Course, Broad Street Park, and Bass Park shall be at such hours and on such conditions as may be established by the City Council. In the event that activities are conducted at either the Municipal Golf Course or Bass Park for which there is an admission fee charged, no member of the public shall have the right to enter said park areas without payment of such admission fee. The Director shall cause notices of the opening and closing hours to be posted in each individual park for public information purposes. B. Closed areas. Any section or part of any park maybe declared closed to the public by the Director at anytime for any interval of time, either temporarily or at regular stated intervals (daily or otherwise). C. Entry prohibited. Except with the written permission of the Director, no person shall enter, pass through or remain in any park, or the closed area of any park, except during the hours and times when such park, or portion thereof, is open to the public as provided in this section. D. Organized activities. Any organized activity where a City park will be used that has the potential to interfere with the public's normal patterns of use of the City park must comply with the City's Event Permit Policy. § 231-11 Violations and penalties. Any person, firm or corporation violating any provisions of this chapter, upon ,.,.nvietien theFeef, shall be fined a. m.. e tR.4te)(ceedi$Q subject to the civil penalties and enforcement provisions of §9-26. Additions are underlined; deletions are StFUGI(th.-, UgI Chapter 234 of the Code of the City of Bangor is amended as follows: § 234-4 Organized Activities on City Property. Any organized activity on City property that has the potential to interfere with the public's normal patterns of use of City 24-319 10/16/2024 property must comply with the City's Event Permit Policy. § 234-4 Violations and penalties. Any person guilty of a vielatien Af violating any of the provisions of this chapter or amendments thereof to which a particular penalty is not annexed shall be puRished by a fiRe of Ret less than c, nn Rd rti day , hir=h rti . elat;eRs, c-,A-Rtin,,e- -Shall +;+„+o a sepa ate 4eRSe subject to the civil penalties and enforcement provisions of §9-26. Additions are underlined; deletions are r}~H oLio. a rrir r, n i% / 71, Sr AI IIII IIII J. fir �� rl r _per r, SIP ;.. FM , / ' a I� hit bl'y'9& � s r, I " ;; " r �ra ; $✓'� / � 5i ofai U Ill III> I r f 1 �� A� r �,�Rio e / x a, � furor im r �,,,, IIII ,G a II IIIIIIII Q i l r" 441 i f ( „/ r , r ' ✓ �� IIIIIIII �// J1111111111111 VCr IN CITY COUNCIL OCTOBER 16, 2024 COrd 24-319 First Reading ��:,w�,��° '" .�� °,„�,��"��,°��*°.�� CITY CLERK IN CITY COUNCIL OCTOBER 28, 204 COrd 24-319 Motion made and seconded for Passage Vote: 9 —0 Councilors Voting Yes: Deane, Hawes, Fish, Fournier, Leonard, Schaefer, Tremble, Yacoubagha, Pelletier Councilors Voting No: None Passed ��.�` � M,�� w�� s� CITY CLERK