[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town of Greenfield as amended 12-29-2015 by Order No. FY 16-105 (Ch. 21 of the 2002 Bylaws). Subsequent amendments noted
where applicable.]
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
A demonstration, rally, parade, march, picket line, or other
similar gathering conducted for the purpose of persons expressing
their views.
The License Commission for the Town of Greenfield.
It is the declared public policy of the Town of Greenfield ("Town")
that persons and groups have a right to organize and participate in
peaceful First Amendment assemblies on the streets, sidewalks, and
other public ways, and in the parks of the Town of Greenfield, and
to engage in First Amendment assembly near the object of their protest
so they may be seen and heard, subject to reasonable restrictions
designed to protect public safety, persons, and property, and to accommodate
the interest of persons not participating in the assemblies to use
the streets, sidewalks, and other public ways to travel to their intended
destinations, and use the parks for recreational purposes.
A.
The License Commission shall recognize and implement the Town policy on First Amendment assemblies established in § 217-2 when enforcing any restrictions on First Amendment assemblies held on Town streets, sidewalks, or other public ways, or in Town parks, and there is a presumption that an application shall be approved by the License Commission, subject to Subsection B.
B.
The License Commission may enforce reasonable time, place, and manner
restrictions on First Amendment assemblies by establishing reasonable
restrictions which may be applied on a proposed assembly prior to
its planned occurrence through the approval of a plan, where the organizers
of the assembly give notice.
C.
No time, place, or manner restriction regarding a First Amendment
assembly shall be based on the content of the beliefs expressed or
anticipated to be expressed during the assembly, or on factors such
as the attire or appearance of persons participating or expected to
participate in an assembly, nor may such restrictions favor non-First
Amendment activities over First Amendment activities.
A.
It shall not be an offense to assemble or parade on a Town sidewalk,
or in a Town park, without having provided notice or obtained an approved
assembly plan.
B.
The purpose of the notice and plan approval process is to avoid situations
where more than one group seeks to use the same space at the same
time and to provide the License Commission and other Town departments
the ability to provide appropriate police protection, traffic control,
and other support for participants and other individuals.
C.
Except as provided in Subsection D of this section, a person or group who or which wishes to conduct a First Amendment assembly on a Town sidewalk, street, the Town Common or a Town park shall give notice and apply for approval of an assembly plan before conducting the assembly.
D.
A person or group who or which wishes to conduct a First Amendment
assembly on a Town sidewalk, the Town Common or in a Town park is
not required to give notice or apply for approval of an assembly plan
before conducting the assembly where:
(1)
The assembly will take place on public sidewalks and crosswalks and
will not prevent other pedestrians from using the sidewalks and crosswalks
and will not illegally interfere with pedestrian or vehicular traffic;
(2)
The person or group reasonably anticipates that the number of persons
participating in the assembly will not illegally interfere with pedestrian
or vehicular traffic, the space has not already been reserved through
the submission of an assembly plan by another group and the assembly
will not occur on a Town street; or
(3)
The assembly is for the purpose of an immediate and spontaneous expression
of views in response to a public event.
E.
The License Commission shall not enforce any user fees on persons
or groups that organize or conduct First Amendment assemblies.
F.
The Mayor or License Commission shall not require, separate from
or in addition to the requirements for giving notice of or applying
for approval of an assembly plan for a First Amendment assembly, that
persons give notice to, or obtain a permit or plan from, the Chief
of Police, or other district officials or agencies, as a prerequisite
for making or delivering an address, speech, or sermon regarding any
political, social, or religious subject in any Town street, sidewalk,
other public way, or park, except to implement reasonable time, place
and manner restrictions.
A.
Authority to approve.
(1)
Subject to the appeal process set forth in Subsection D of this section, the authority to receive and review a notice of and an application for approval of a plan for a First Amendment assembly on Town streets, sidewalks, and other public ways, and in Town parks, and to grant, deny, or revoke an assembly plan, is vested exclusively with the License Commission.
(2)
Persons or groups providing notice to and applying for approval of a plan from the Town government to conduct a First Amendment assembly on a Town street, sidewalk, or other public way, or in a Town park, shall not be required to obtain approval for the assembly from any other official, agency, or entity in the Town government; however, the License Commission may seek approval from other Town departments before issuing a decision in order to implement time, place and manner restrictions as provided in § 217-4F.
B.
Action on application.
(1)
The License Commission shall take final action on a notice of and an application for approval of a plan for a First Amendment assembly at its next regular meeting following receipt of the completed application and in any event prior to the date of the proposed assembly, considering such factors as the anticipated size of the assembly, the proposed date and location, and the number of days between the application date and the proposed assembly date, and shall establish specific timetables for processing an application by rules issued pursuant to Subsection E of this section.
(2)
Except as provided in Subsection B(3), where a complete application for approval of a First Amendment assembly plan is filed 60 days or more prior to the proposed assembly date, the application shall receive final action no later than 30 days prior to the proposed assembly.
(3)
Following the approval of an assembly plan in response to an application pursuant to Subsection B(2), the License Commission may, after consultations with the person or group giving notice of the assembly, amend the plan to make reasonable modifications to the assembly location or route up until 10 days prior to the assembly date, based on considerations of public safety.
C.
The License Commission shall inform the person or group giving notice
of an assembly, in writing, of the reasons for any decision to:
D.
Appeals.
(1)
Any applicant whose proposed assembly plan has been denied in whole
or part, revoked prior to the date of the planned assembly, or granted
subject to time, place, or manner restrictions deemed objectionable
by the applicant may appeal such decision to the Mayor or the Mayor's
designee, who shall concur with, modify, or overrule the decision
of the License Commission.
(2)
The Mayor shall make a decision on appeal within two days after receiving
written notice and prior to the date and time the assembly is planned
to commence, and shall explain in writing the reasons for the decision.
E.
Rules and regulations.
(1)
Within 180 days of the passage of this article by the Town Council
of Greenfield, the License Commission, in accordance with this article,
shall issue procedural rules for implementation of this article, including
but not limited to specific rules for the Town Common.
(2)
Existing procedures for the issuance of permits to persons or groups seeking to conduct a First Amendment assembly on Town streets, sidewalks, or other public ways, or in Town parks, that are not inconsistent with this article shall remain in effect pending the issuance of the procedural rules promulgated under Subsection E(1) of this subsection.
B.
In order to protect and preserve the sanctity of the home and assure
that members of the community enjoy in their homes and dwellings a
feeling of well-being, tranquility, and privacy, no demonstrations
shall be permitted that are targeted at an individual's residence.
C.
It shall be unlawful for any person to engage in picketing or other
protest activities within 300 feet of or about any location at which
a funeral is held, within one hour prior to the commencement of any
funeral, and until one hour following the cessation of any funeral.
Violation of this article shall result in a civil penalty not
to exceed $100 for each offense, which shall inure to the benefit
of the Town, all pursuant to MGL c. 40, § 21.
If notice and application for approval of an assembly plan is
not provided to the License Commission before such assembly and more
than one assembly occurs at the same time and space, then neither
assembly has a superior right to the space.
The purpose of this article is to cover all sections not covered by Article I, Public Demonstrations, of this Chapter 217 (First Amendment right of assembly and applicable portions of the Massachusetts Constitution), the intent of this article being to cover non-First Amendment situations and to allow the License Commission the discretion to issue permits in such cases. A parade shall consist of a non-First Amendment procession, assembly, or other organized formation.
No person shall take part in any parade of persons or vehicles,
other than a funeral procession or a picket line, in or upon any street,
way, highway, road, or parkway or other public property under the
control of the Town unless the License Commission has granted a permit
for such parade.
The License Commission may issue such permit in all cases except
where the time, place, and manner are not in conformity with the rules
set forth below and except where the permit would be in conflict as
to time or place with a permit previously issued. No fee shall be
charged for any such permit.
The written request for the permit shall be filed with the License
Commission at least seven days prior to each occurrence, and said
Commission may waive this seven-day requirement. The request shall
include the following:
A.
The date and starting time;
B.
The name, address and telephone number of the applicant and the name
of the organization involved;
C.
The formation or assembly area and the time therefor;
D.
The route of the parade or motorcade and what portions, if any, of
the streets traversed may be occupied by such parade or motorcade;
and
E.
The approximate number of persons and vehicles in the parade or motorcade,
if applicable.
When it is of a size or nature that requires the diversion of
so great a number of police officers of the Town to properly police
the line of movement in areas involved and areas contiguous thereto
that the parade would deny reasonable police protection to the Town.
The License Commission shall have the authority to modify the
place, time and route of a parade to facilitate crowd control in the
interest of relieving congestion and promoting public safety.
