The Lawrence Common Council spent about an hour debating an ordinance creating a permitting process for special events within the City of Lawrence, ultimately approving it in a split 6-3 vote. Administrators said the new rules will help guard against “bad actors,” but some council members were concerned the language is too broad.
Council members Tyrrell Giles (D-District 1), Rick Wells (D-District 2) and Lisa Chavis (D-at-large) voted against the ordinance after an attempt to postpone the measure failed. They said they wanted more time to consider it and for the council’s attorney to review the ordinance, which was amended slightly since it was introduced June 26.
The ordinance establishes a framework for issuing special events permits, which will be required for most special events where more than 100 people are expected to attend.
The code includes a permit application fee of $150. Other fees are vendor fees, administrative fees for events that violate the code and fees for permits submitted less than 45 days before a planned event. City officials would be allowed to waive some fees, depending on the type of event and the organization applying for a permit.
Department of Public Works Director Chris Wilburn told the council that the primary purpose of establishing event permitting regulations is to provide “guardrails” if and when someone tries to have a large gathering that can lead to safety concerns.
“The whole purpose of this is to ensure that there’s public safety and that we hold individuals accountable who come to our city who do bad things,” he said. “But at the same time, praise and recognize organizations who do events and want to continue to grow and thrive here in the City of Lawrence.”
Wilburn cited examples of undesirable events — short-term rental homes used for large parties and social media groups that arrange spontaneous car meet-ups that can be loud and disruptive.
Councilor Wells said he believed the ordinance’s language was too vague and could apply to church gatherings or birthday parties in addition to the “bad actors” that it’s targeting. He asked whether it could be written in a more specific manner.
Wilburn said that kind of specificity could limit the city’s ability to respond to an evolving climate.
“The intentionality is not to be vague or having any ambiguity, but we don’t want to narrow the focus this particular ordinance, because we are thinking in the future,” he said. “What we want to do as a city and as a division — the DPW — is to ensure that we’re thinking of the future events that we may not consider now, and we want to have language which encompasses that. The spirit of the ordinance is, I believe, to be flexible and nimble in the sense that it allows the administrator, meaning whoever the DPW director is at the time, to determine on a case-by-case basis — if there were concerns or questions — to then be able to address those concerns or questions without having the stringent, strict nature of a specific, particular ordinance.”
In other matters, Director of Communications for City Events Jami Weirich invited the council to the city’s back-to-school cookout, set for noon to 3 p.m. July 28 at Alexander Park, 4902 Charney Ave. She said the event will include free food and prizes and the city is taking donations to fill backpacks for students. For more, visit cityoflawrence.org/news/2024/07/09/back-school-cookout-alexander-park.
The next Lawrence Common Council meeting is 6:30 p.m. Aug. 5 at Lawrence Government Center, 9001 E. 59th St. It will be livestreamed on the city’s Facebook page, facebook.com/cityoflawrencein.
