Section 12.28.050 Special event permit issuance or denial.

A. Standards for Issuance. The city administrator shall issue a special event permit conditioned upon the applicant’ s written agreement to comply with the terms of such permit.

1. No permit shall be necessary for sidewalk picketing, for under twenty-five (25) participants if it is being conducted in such a manner that allows pedestrian traffic an opportunity to pass by the picketing unobstructed. It must allow pedestrian and/or motor vehicle traffic an unobstructed opportunity for the ingress and egress to property.

2. No special event shall be conducted on a public street, sidewalk or right-of-way between the hours of twelve p.m. and six a.m.

3. The police chief or designee shall be empowered to reasonably designate the route of a parade or other special event within the general locale desired by the applicant. If the applicant is unwilling to modify the application to incorporate this change, the application shall be denied.

4. The police chief or designee may limit use of a street for a special event to one side or portion of a street whenever necessary in the public interest in order to provide and preserve public safety and traffic control in order to permit simultaneous use of streets by those participating in the special event and other motor vehicle traffic.

5. If the proposed special event is for the primary purpose of commercial advertising and it would disrupt streets or public places ordinarily subject to great congestion during the time of the special event, or would require such a diversion of police protection that it would deny reasonable police protection to the city, the application may be denied, unless the applicant modifies the proposed special event to satisfactorily deal with these concerns in a manner reasonably acceptable to the police chief or designee.

6. A special event permit application requiring police protection for public safety shall be denied if the application requests the conducting of a special event at the same time as another special event requiring police protection that is being conducted in a different vicinity at a different geographical location and the additional diversion of police protection would deny reasonable police protection to the city. The sponsor may be required to pay for security personnel approved by the chief of police or designee.

7. A special event permit application may be denied if it would require such a substantial amount of police protection for public safety that it would deny reasonable police protection to the remainder of the city, even when additional off-duty police officers would be employed on an overtime basis. The sponsor may be required to pay for security police.

8. A special event permit application shall be denied if the request is for a time and location where a special event or street excavation or construction project has already been scheduled for that time and location and an irreconcilable conflict exists between the two so that they could not reasonably be conducted at the same time and location.

9. A special event permit application shall be denied if it would be:

a. Obscene pursuant to Montana state law;

b. Hazardous to public health or safety;

c. Would create an extraordinary amount of litter and the applicant has not presented an acceptable, effective plan for the applicant to clean up the litter immediately after the conclusion of the special event;

d. Would substantially interfere with emergency ambulance, fire or police service the applicant fails to modify the application request to satisfactorily alleviate or eliminate this interference with emergency services.

B. An applicant desiring to appeal any denial of a permit application may immediately appeal to the mayor, or in the mayor’ s absence, the city council president. A decision on any appeal must be issued within twenty-four (24) hours after the appeal is submitted. (Ord. 214 (part), 2003: Ord. 131 (part), 1998: prior code § 5.02.050)