[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the
Town of New Castle 10-26-1999 by L.L. No. 19-1999 amended in its entirety 9-23-2003 by L.L. No.
2-2003. Subsequent amendments noted where applicable.]
Whenever used in this chapter, the following
terms shall have the meanings indicated:
Any meeting, demonstration, rally, or gathering of any kind
of more than 50 people for a common purpose as a result of prior planning
and in or on public property for which the Town has primary responsibility
for public safety but not on, in, or along any street, sidewalk, or
parking lot.
Any assembly or parade.
A permit as required by this chapter.
Any parade, march, run, road race, walk, procession, demonstration,
or gathering of any kind of more than 10 people for a common purpose
as a result of prior planning and on, in, or along any street, sidewalk,
or parking lot in which the Town has primary responsibility for public
safety.
Any person, firm, partnership, association, corporation,
company, or organization of any kind, except the Town.
Any area or way set aside or open to the general public for
pedestrian traffic, whether or not it is paved.
Any public street, roadway, or highway within the Town.
The Town of New Castle.
A.
No person shall engage in, participate in, aid, form,
or start any assisted event unless an assisted event permit has been
obtained from the Town Police Chief. An assisted event permit shall
be required for each separate day during which an assisted event is
conducted.
B.
Exceptions. This chapter shall not apply to:
(1)
The Town and any other government or school district
that has jurisdiction in the Town, that is acting within the scope
of its authority, and that assumes or has and in either case actually
exercises primary responsibility for public safety in connection with
the assisted event.
(2)
Vehicular processions traveling in accordance with
traffic regulations, signals, and controls.
(3)
Assisted events held on Town property other than streets,
sidewalks, and parking lots and for which permission for use has been
allowed under another provision of the Town Code.
A person seeking issuance of an assisted event
permit ("applicant") shall file an application with the Town Police
Chief on forms provided by the Town Police Chief. The Town Board or
any other Town board or commission with responsibility for management
of any Town property may refer an application for the use of that
property to the Town Police Chief for consideration as an application
for an assisted event permit.
A.
Filing period. An application for an assisted event
permit shall be filed with the Town Police Chief not less than seven
business days nor more than six months before the date on which it
is proposed to conduct the assisted event.
B.
Contents. The application for an assisted event permit
shall set forth the following information:
(1)
The name, address and telephone number of the person
or persons seeking to conduct such assisted event.
(2)
If the assisted event is proposed to be held for,
on behalf of, or by an organization, the name, address, and telephone
number of the headquarters of the organization and of the authorized
and responsible heads of such organization.
(3)
The name, address, telephone number, and facsimile
address and electronic mailing address, if any, of the individual(s)
who will be the chairperson of and responsible for the conduct of
the assisted event.
(4)
The date when the assisted event is to be conducted.
(5)
The location of the assembly, if that is the case,
or the starting point, route, and termination point of the parade,
if that is the case.
(6)
The approximate number of people and vehicles, if
any, which will constitute the assisted event and a description of
any distinguishing feature of the vehicles.
(7)
The hours when the assisted event is proposed to start
and terminate.
(8)
The location and time at which participants in the
parade, if that is the case, will begin to assemble.
(9)
If the assisted event is to be held by, on behalf
of, or for any person other than the applicant, a writing from that
other person authorizing applicant to apply for the permit on his,
her, or its behalf.
(10)
A description of any sound amplification equipment
to be used.
(11)
Whether or not there will be marshals or other persons,
however designated, charged with arrangement or regulation of the
parade or public assembly and, if so, their duties and identification.
(12)
The approximate number of spectators expected.
(13)
A description of any public facilities to be utilized.
C.
Late applications. The Town Police Chief, where good
cause is shown, shall have the authority to consider any application
hereunder which is filed less than seven business days before the
date such assisted event is proposed to be conducted. Good cause may
include, but not be limited to, spontaneous gatherings, marches, or
other demonstrations and assemblies and parades in response to recent
events and events of such a scale and in such circumstances that Town
police are likely to able to provide sufficient assistance without
requiring mutual aid from another jurisdiction or agency, without
consideration given in either case to the message to be disseminated
by the event.
D.
Proof of insurance. If an applicant or the person
for, on behalf of, or by whom the assisted event is to be held maintains
an insurance policy in its customary and usual course of business,
it shall obtain and submit proof of insurance in the form of a certificate
of insurance showing that the Town is a named insured as well as giving
the Town 30 days' written notice of any cancellation or change.
E.
Indemnification. The applicant shall execute a hold-harmless/indemnification
agreement, in a form satisfactory to the Town Attorney, indemnifying
and holding harmless the Town of New Castle, its officers and employees
from any and all liability arising or resulting from the issuance
of a permit hereunder or any actions, active or passive, taken by
the applicant or any participant in the parade.
F.
Fee. A fee as set forth by resolution of the Town
Board in the Master Fee Schedule, which may be amended, shall be charged.
The Town Police Chief, after consultation with
the Town Administrator and with any other Town employee or official
the Police Chief believes appropriate, shall issue an assisted event
permit as provided for hereunder unless, from a consideration of the
application and from such other information as may otherwise be obtained,
he or she finds that:
A.
The assisted event is reasonably likely to substantially
interrupt the safe and orderly movement of traffic, both vehicular
and pedestrian, contiguous to its route or area of assembly.
B.
The concentration of persons and vehicles at the assisted
event is reasonably likely to divert or interfere unduly with proper
fire protection, police protection, or ambulance services in the Town.
C.
The conduct of the assisted event is reasonably likely
to interfere with the movement of fire-fighting equipment, ambulance,
or other emergency services en route to a fire or other emergency.
D.
The assisted event will interfere or conflict with
any other assisted event for which a permit has been issued or an
application has been made.
E.
The parade, if that is the case, is not scheduled
to move from its point of origin to its point of termination without
unreasonable delays en route.
F.
The proposed route of the parade, if that is the case,
will not permit necessary police coverage without unduly interfering
with the normal duties of the Town Police Department or placing an
unreasonable burden upon the Police Department.
G.
The assisted event is reasonably likely to cause injury
to persons or property.
H.
Parking places sufficient to accommodate the number
of vehicles reasonably expected are not available near the site of
the assisted event.
I.
The assisted event will be conducted after nightfall,
unless the Town Chief of Police also finds that the assisted event
will be conducted at a time, at a place, and in a manner that will
not interfere with the reasonable peace and comfort of the Town's
residents and will minimize risks that are particular to a nighttime
assembly or parade, as the case may be.
The Town Police Chief shall act upon the application
for an assisted event permit within three business days after the
filing of an application. If the Town Police Chief disapproves the
application, the Chief shall notify the applicant by telephone call,
e-mail message, and/or facsimile transmission of his or her denial
of the permit as soon as is practicable and shall mail to the applicant,
within that three-business-day period, a notice of the denial stating
the reasons for his or her denial of the permit.
An applicant shall have the right to appeal the denial of an assisted event permit to the Town Board. The appeal shall be taken by written notice filed with the Town Supervisor and the Town Clerk within five business days after receipt of the Town Police Chief's notice of the denial stating the reasons for his or her denial of the permit. The Town Board shall act upon the appeal within two business days after its receipt and shall act on any application rejected under § 92-3 as soon as it can convene.
The Town Police Chief, in denying an application for an assisted event permit may authorize the assisted event to be held on a date, at a time, in a manner, or over a route or at a place of assembly different from that named by the applicant, based upon the considerations set forth in § 92-4. An applicant desiring to accept an alternate permit shall, within three business days after notice of the action of the Town Police Chief, file a written acceptance with the Town Police Chief. An alternate assisted event permit shall conform to the requirements of and shall have the effect of an assisted event permit under this chapter.
Each assisted event permit shall state the following
information:
A.
The starting time and ending time.
B.
The place of any assembly, and the portions of the
streets, sidewalks or shoulders, and parking lots to be traversed
and places of assembly that may be occupied by the parade, if that
is the case.
C.
The maximum length of the parade, if that is the case,
in miles or fractions thereof.
D.
Such other information as the Town Police Chief shall
find necessary to the enforcement of this chapter.
A.
The permittee and every participant in an assisted
event shall comply with all permit directions and conditions which
the Chief of Police or Town Board, as the case may be, may reasonably
require to provide for the safety of the participants and the public
and with all applicable laws.
B.
The permittee shall advise all participants in an
assisted event, either orally or by written notice, of the terms and
conditions of the permit, prior to the commencement of event.
C.
The assisted event chairperson or other person heading
or leading such event shall carry the assisted event permit upon his
or her person during the conduct of the assisted event.
A.
Interference. No person shall unreasonably hamper,
obstruct, impede, or interfere with any assisted event, any assembly
for an assisted event, or any person or vehicle participating or used
in any assisted event.
B.
Driving through parades. No driver of a vehicle shall
drive between the people or vehicles comprising a parade when such
vehicles or persons are identifiable as a parade.
C.
Parking on parade route. The Chief of Police shall
have the authority, when reasonably necessary, to prohibit or restrict
the parking of vehicles on, in, or along any street, sidewalk, or
parking lot constituting a part of a route of a parade. The Chief
of Police shall post signs to such effect, and it shall be unlawful
for any person to park any vehicle or to leave unattended any vehicle
in violation thereof, but no person shall be liable for parking in
a location which is not posted.
The Town Police Chief shall have the authority to revoke an assisted event permit upon a violation of the standards for issuance as set forth in § 92-4.
Any person violating any provision of this chapter
shall be guilty of a violation punishable by a fine not exceeding
$350 or imprisonment for a period not to exceed 15 days, or both,
but a third or subsequent violation committed within a period of 365
days shall be a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not to exceed $1,000
or imprisonment for a period not to exceed one year, or both. Each
day that any such violation is committed or permitted to continue
shall constitute a separate offense and shall be punishable as such
hereunder.
