BY CHRISTINE VARNO
Staff Writer
FILEPHOTO Organizers of rallies will have to comply with new criteria to get city approval to stage such events. LONG BRANCH – Much more will be involved to obtain approval to hold a rally or demonstration or other public event in the city under new rules adopted by the City Council.
At the April 25 municipal meeting, the council unanimously adopted ordinance 12-06, amending section 247 of the code of the city of Long Branch, which deals with permits for special events.
The amended ordinance expands the venues that come under the new rules, as well as the type of events requiring permits. It also requires that groups seeking to hold public events, including rallies, have insurance policies that name the city as an insured party. In addition, it creates two new categories for which special events permits are necessary – those events that are sponsored by the city and those sanctioned by the city.
According to City Business Administrator Howard H. Woolley, the changes made to the original ordinance “are to everyone’s benefit.”
The ordinance includes more specific uses and requirements for permits “to make the beach more accessible and more usable by all the residents in the city,” said Woolley in an interview after the meeting.
“Because of improvements to the oceanfront, more people want to use it,” Woolley said. “We want to allow the public to use the beachfront in ways other than the traditional ways. We are saying, if you want to do that you can,” but added that residents must comply with city regulations.
The ordinance was introduced at the April 11 council meeting, at the public hearing for the ordinance, held prior to its adoption at the meeting, no comment was made by members of the public.
The original ordinance states, “Whenever a person desires to use a park or a certain area of the park for a period of one day or any part thereof, that person shall make application to the Mayor and City Council for a permit for the special event, which includes, but is not limited to, a performance, show or entertainment.”
The council approved the following amendments, which extend the reach of the ordinance to a “public street or place, or quasi-public private property when the use may impact public safety or city services for a period of one day or any part thereof, or when a private event on private property is such that it may impact on public safety or city services,” to the original.
It also includes the proviso that “labor strikes, road closings, large gatherings requiring other city permits, protests or demonstrations” require obtaining permits.
“If someone is going to have an event, they are required to get a permit. This will allow the use of the beach in the redevelopment and other areas if permitted,” Woolley said.
Ordinance 12-06 also includes the requirement that all applications must be submitted to the City Clerk’s Office no less than 30 days before, or within a reasonable amount of time “to be reviewed by the special events committee and approved by the mayor.”
Special event permits must be deemed to be “either city-sponsored which are “city services paid by the city” or “city-sanctioned” being “city services paid by the applicant as per law and regulation and via equity account established with the city of Long Branch Finance Department,” according to ordinance 12-06.
The proposed activity in the application must not “unreasonably restrict, obstruct, interfere with or impede pedestrian right-of-way, a vehicle’s right-of-way, or ingress or egress from the requested or abutting property,” according to the ordinance, which also requires that the appropriate certificate of insurance “if required is issued to the applicant naming the city as additional insured for said, place, date and time.”
Woolley said residents are also required to obtain insurance for events in order to protect the residents in the city.
The ordinance states, “Applicant shall meet any and all requirements and conditions (fees, salary costs, public safety coverage, traffic control plans, etc.) listed on an approval permit.”
“If someone wanted to have a block party, we need insurance for that,” Woolley said. “We say you can do this, but we need the insurance. I don’t think taxpayers should have the burden if someone has a few cocktails and falls.”
Woolley added that he could not estimate how much residents would have to pay for insurance because policies vary with each event.