Code and Environment Committee Minutes, May 1, 2008
Code and Environment Committee Meeting Report - May 1, 2008 6:00 p.m.
Attendance: Richard Allen, Ahmed Ebady, Seth Golding, Joyce Hughes, Tom Wildman Excused: Richard Talbot
Safety - UAC Block Party Permit Guidelines
A motion was made by Tom Wildman and seconded by Ahmed Ebady to approve:
University Area Commission Block Party/Street Closure Permit Guidelines
Applicant must first obtain and abide where applicable, by all the rules and references in the (City of Columbus) Event Time Line & Check List; Recreation and Parks: Block Party/Street Closure Application; Division of Police-Special Events Unit: Special Events Permit; Division of Fire-Prevention Bureau: Temporary Event Permit; Division of Transportation Street/Sidewalk: Occupancy Permit; Refuse Collection Division: Trash Removal Plan; Department of Public Safety-License Section: Parade Permit and the Depart of Public Safety-License Section: Community Noise Permit.
University Area Commission Block Party/Street Closure Permit Guidelines requires within the boundaries of the University District (center of Fifth Avenue north to center of Glen Echo Ravine and from the Con-rail tracks west to the Olentangy River) the following:
- the permit should be approved by no less than two-thirds (2/3) of the City of Columbus recognized local community board(s) within the University Area Commission boundaries prior to the review of the University Area Commission Zoning Committee, whose boundaries are affected by permit request. The University Area Commission Zoning Committee Chair shall provide the list of such groups and their boundaries to the applicant.
- the University Area Commission Zoning Committee receives and recommends approval by a two-thirds (2/3) vote at its regularly scheduled monthly meeting, which will be held no later than fourteen (14) days prior the full University Area Commission meeting, of the City of Columbus-Recreation an Parks: Block Party/Street Closure Application. A passage by two-thirds (2/3) in favor of the applicant is required at the full University Area Commission meeting, no less than seven (7) days prior applicants event.
- Limited outdoor amplification from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., Sunday through Thursday and from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday through Saturday, which must comply with the City of Columbus Noise Ordinance. No outdoor amplification permitted from 10 p.m. through 10:00 a.m., Sunday through Saturday.
- No Alcohol/Spirits of any kind permitted without a Ohio State Licensed Liquor Control Officer or a City of Columbus Division of Police Special Duty Officer present on permit grounds. How many such said officials are to be determined by the Columbus Division of Police-Special Events Unit Officer.
- For more than one-hundred (100) participants and/or if an arterial street is affected by the permit request, a minimum of one Columbus Division of Police Special Duty Officer is required and the applicant must seek approval with the Columbus Division of Police Special Events Coordinator.
- No advertising of the applicant’s event outside of the immediate block/community/participants where the permit is requested. This includes text-messaging and internet applications.
- a refuse and a recyclable container must be provided for every one hundred (100) square feet within the event’s boundaries, with collection of such products to be coordinated with the City of Columbus Refuse Collection Division.
- a clean-up circle after the event must include a minimum of a two (2) block radius in all directions,by which a collection of such products are to be coordinated with the City of Columbus Refuse Collection Division.
- a sanitary portable outdoor toilet and wash basin must be provided for each gender, for more than one-hundred (100) participants and must be coordinated with the City of Columbus Recreation and Parks Office of Special Events.
APPLICANT TO COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING PRIOR TO HAVING THE UNIVERSITY AREA COMMISSION SIGN
Closure Location___________________________[street to be closed]
from_______________________ [street]
to ____________________ [street]
From-Date_________________
Time:___________________ am/pm
To-Date _________________
Time: ___________________ am/pm
Purpose of Closure (type of event) _____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
Applicant Info:
Name____________________________________________________________________________________
Address__________________________________
City____________________ Zipcode__________
Home Phone_______________________________
Business Phone______________________________
In accordance with the University Area Commission Block Party/Street Closure Permit Guidelines, the applicant agrees to coordinate with above recommended City Departments and abide by the guidelines set forth in this document:
Applicant Signature___________________________________________
Date__________________________
University Area Commission
Zoning Chair Signature________________________________________ Date__________________________
University Area Commission
President Signature _________________________________________ Date__________________________
————————————–
Some discussion. Rick Allen wished to know who would be responsible to handle these guidelines. Tom Wildman looked into this. City Recreation and Parks handles all city requested block party permit applications and has a requirement that if such a request is applied for within the University Area Commission boundaries, the the University Area Commission must first sign off on the permit. That means, these guidelines are in house (UAC) and that one of our Committees should handle it. In the past [years ago], Zoning Committee handled the requests, therefore Tom suggested this Committee would be the logical committee to do so again. Tom further stated, that too much time is spent at the full Commission meeting discussing what should actually happen in the committee level. A guidelines to applicants would reduce the time spent in committee and at the full Commission meetings. In actuality, no time should be spent at a full Commission meeting. Only an up and down vote based on committee recommendation.
Motion was approved: (5) yeas (0) nays (0) abstencia
Code-Environment -
Letters for U-District wide quality of life issues
Tom Wildman brought up various University-District wide ‘house cleaning’ quality of life issues that could and should be addressed by the Commission yearly, whereby the duplication of the U-District Community Groups could be avoided and their times better spent with greater pressing neighborhood concerns. He suggested several letters be written to such City Departments as Transportation, City Forester, City Electric, Rumpke and 311Connect to address concerns governing street light bulb replacement, pothole filing, street tree replacement, graffiti removal and wandering trash. The following motions were made: [The UAC may have some past letters that can be used, instead of writing new ones]
A motion made by Seth Golding and seconded by Rick Allen to:
To send a letter to the Department of Transportation and 311_Connect, requesting all street and alley potholes be filled/fixed throughout the U-District boundaries presently and each Spring.
No discussion.
Motion passes: (5) yeas (0) neas (0) abstencia
________________
A motion made by Tom Wildman and seconded by Seth Golding to:
To send a letter to the City Forester and 311_Connect, requesting all UIRF street trees that have died or been removed, be replaced throughout the U-District boundaries presently and each Spring.
No discussion.
Motion passes: (5) yeas (0) neas (0) abstencia
________________
A motion made by Seth Golding and seconded by Joyce Hughes to:
To send a letter to the City Engineers Office-Electric Division and 311_Connect, requesting all street and alley lights be checked and replaced as needed throughout the U-District boundaries presently and each Autumn.
No discussion.
Motion passes: (5) yeas (0) neas (0) abstencia
________________
A motion made by Ahmed Ebady and seconded by Rick Allen to:
To send a letter to Keep Columbus Beautiful and 311_Connect, requesting all graffiti and stickers be identified and removed throughout the U-District boundaries presently and monthly, with special emphasis on the following:
- cable boxes
- utility poles
- street signs and poles
- COTA Stops
- City Right-of-way retaining walls
- railway overpasses and crossings
- bridge overpasses and abutments
- refuse containers
- fire hydrants
- sidewalks and curbs
No discussion.
Motion passes: (5) yeas (0) neas (0) abstencia
________________
A motion made by Seth Golding and seconded by Rick Allen to:
To send a letter to Rumpke and 311_Connect, requesting all recycling containers have sealable lids [snap down] to prevent wandering recyclables as paper, cardboard and plastics onto city streets, sidewalks & alleys and onto private property; for the U-District boundaries.
No discussion.
Motion passes: (5) yeas (0) neas (0) abstencia
May 20th, 2008 at 21:17
I have a concern with the 2/3rds requirement and that the Zoning Committee and other local community boards be required to review the Block Party Requests. I think that if we make the process too difficult to accomplish, then people will try to have large parties without the consent of the community and or the commission. Other than that I think they look very good.
On the letters, I suggest that the people who motioned (both 1st and 2nd) be responsible for a draft of the letter as well as determining who should receive it. This could be coordinated with the Corresponding Secretary after the vote to send the letters has been determine.
May 20th, 2008 at 21:25
I also like the letters requesting area wide improvements.
May 20th, 2008 at 23:00
I think a 2/3 majority is an excessive requirement. The UAC requires only a simple majority with only a few exceptions, even on zoning cases. The timing on most block party permits is very tight because the applicants don’t know what they have to do before they go to Parks & Recreation and they think a couple of weeks should be adequate. We can take some measures to make the requirements better known such as putting them on the website, but it is unrealistic to think that an applicant is going to start months in advance as would be required if the application has to go to other neighborhood groups and the zoning committee. I think review by neighborhood groups and the zoning committee is unnecessary. I do think the UAC should require the application be submitted in time to assure that it is printed on the agenda. The number of recycling and refuse containers is far too many at one for every 100 sq. ft. That means that if evenly arranged, the containers would be 10 ft. apart
May 21st, 2008 at 15:46
I agree with Ron, 2/3rds and involving the community groups is excessive. This is also excessive because the Commission is meant to represent the community, and if the community has an issue with a block party they can speak to it when we have the hearing at the Commission. The Commission then will act as a centralized arena to voice these concerns or compliments, as it should. I also agree with Ian, that taking block parties to committee is excessive. Zoning already has a lot of important work to do, and for the most part, their time is filled with useful discussion and voting. If we have guidelines, like we are suggesting, it should be pretty clear whether or not we “want” a block party and can approve or disprove on the spot. If somehow all block parties are unique, then we would need to go to committee, but they are not.
I have another issue with the advertising guideline. This guideline could take us to court. We can not limit a person’s right to “free speech”, and this might be considered as such. I would not like the Commission to be held liable for something so minor.
May 21st, 2008 at 16:34
I believe these requirements are excessive. It should be noted that the University Area is the only area of the City that requires a sign off on block party permits, we should not overstep our authority by making it impossible for a group of residents to host a responsible block party. The questions we have informally asked in the past are these:
1) Will there be amplification, and if so at what times? (Perhaps we want to build parameters of hours around this.)
2) Will alcoholic beverages be served, and what are the procedures to ensure it stays on site and that crowds are controlled?
3) What is the toilet plan? (Perhaps we want reccomendations or parameters around this.)
4) What is the litter clean up plan? (We have been asking for a clean up in a 2 block radius for any items that might leave the event - food, beverages, flyers, etc.)
5) Will you offer recycling? (We have requested events offer recycling of all items picked up by the SWACO single stream dumpsters with the understanding that the University Area Enrichment Association provides free rental of recycling containers).
I would like to see those questions formalized, and would support an addition of the request for a permit to be to the UAC in time to be added to the agenda with the above items addressed in the motion on the agenda.
Catherine Girves