Honorable Mayor and Members of the Hermosa Beach City Council Regular Meeting of January 14, 2020
Title
APPROVAL OF THE PARKS, RECREATION AND
COMMUNITY RESOURCES ADVISORY COMMISSION’S
RECOMMENDED SPECIAL EVENT LONG-TERM AGREEMENT
POLICY FOR A THREE-YEAR PILOT PROGRAM; AND AFFIRM
THE COMMISSION’S REVIEW OF THE POLICY IN TWO YEARS
(Community Resources Manager Kelly Orta)
Body
Recommended Action:
Recommendation
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1. Approve the Parks, Recreation and Community Resources Advisory Commission’s recommended Special Event Long-term Agreement Policy for a three-year pilot program; and
2. Direct the Parks, Recreation and Community Resources Advisory Commission to review and provide an update to Council on the policy in two years’ time, in advance of entering into the Pilot Program’s third and final year.
Body
Executive Summary:
The City Council, at its October 10, 2019 meeting, approved the Special Event Fee Waiver Policy, which the Parks, Recreation and Community Resource Advisory Commission recommended for approval at its October 1 regular meeting. As a result, several annual events that had recently received fee waivers, awarded by the Council, were no longer eligible for fee waiver consideration. To continue the City’s support of these events, the City Council expressed a desire to expedite the Special Event Subcommittee’s creation of a Long-term Agreement Policy dedicated for special events.
The Special Event Subcommittee presented draft versions of the Long-term Agreement Policy to the Commission at its special meeting on November 4 and regular meeting on December 3. As a result of the Commission’s review and deliberations, it recommends approval of the proposed policy which outlines an event’s qualifications for eligibility, term limits, procedures for consideration, and obligations of the organization. Additionally, the Commission recommends the implementation of the policy as a three-year pilot program with the Commission’s review of it in two years.
Background:
The City Council at its October 10, 2019 meeting, approved the Special Event Fee Waiver Policy, which the Parks, Recreation and Community Resource Advisory Commission recommended for approval at its October 1 regular meeting. As a result of this policy, several annual events were no longer eligible for fee waiver consideration that had recently been the recipient of fee waivers awarded by the City Council. To continue the City’s support of these events, which are further outlined below, the City Council expressed a desire to expedite the Special Event Subcommittee’s creation of a Long-term Agreement Policy dedicated for special events. Through this process, there would be an opportunity for event fees to be decreased or eliminated depending on the outcome of negotiations between the City and representatives from each event’s producing organization.
The Special Event Subcommittee, currently consisting of Chairperson Jani Lange and Commissioner Barbara Ellman, worked with Staff and presented a draft version of the Long-term Agreement Policy to the Commission at its special meeting on November 4. The Commission provided its input and requested to have the policy return at a future meeting for final review. This secondary review was held at the Commission’s regular meeting on December 3. The proposed Special Event Long-term Agreement (LTA) Policy (Attachment 1) includes comments and input received from both meetings.
Discussion:
The proposed LTA Policy outlines an event’s qualifications for eligibility, term limits, procedures for consideration, and obligations of the organization. Throughout policy development, the Subcommittee and Staff analyzed characteristics of existing events to determine various thresholds that would make an event eligible for an LTA to be sure the policy was clear, defining, and not too broad in its scope. While there are many benefits to enter into an LTA, the desired focus was not to allow all events to be eligible, but rather dedicated to those that the City would like to partner with or for larger-scale events that pose the biggest impact to the City where the pre-planning and consistency that an LTA provides would be highly beneficial.
Policy Overview
The proposed policy outlines a number of qualifiers that are required for consideration of each event’s eligibility for an LTA, including:
• An Impact Level of II or III;
• Greater than an estimated 5,000 people in attendance;
• Include at least two consecutive event days;
• Have been an approved event held in Hermosa Beach for at least three consecutive years;
• Produced by an organization that serves and supports Hermosa Beach in some way; and
• The producing organization must be able to demonstrate programs that provide a demonstrable positive impact to the City.
If these qualifications are not met, but an event is deemed a benefit to the community and is one that the City is unable to provide itself, the City Council also has the ability to authorize an LTA. The proposed term limits are for no less than two years and for no longer than three, unless otherwise determined by the City Council.
The procedures for obtaining an LTA require the organization to submit a completed LTA application and corresponding letter to the Community Resources Department. The letter must contain information demonstrating how the producing organization serves, involves, and/or promotes Hermosa Beach’s coastal lifestyle, its residents, schools, and/or businesses; how its programs provide a positive impact to the Hermosa Beach community; or how it offers recreational, cultural, social, and/or educational activities for the community. Once deemed complete, the Commission would review the request to determine if all the qualifications are satisfactorily met and consider making a recommendation to the City Council to begin negotiations for an LTA. The City Council would then review the request to formally determine whether staff should begin negotiating with the organization. If approved, and once the terms are negotiated, the City Council would have final authority to approve the negotiated terms of the LTA.
Lastly, as part of the requirements for an LTA, the organization must provide a presentation to the Commission at least 60 days prior to and following its event that outlines a general overview of the upcoming event followed by actual event details. This would provide an opportunity for biannual check-ins with the Commission where it can receive information about the event, while also allowing the community an opportunity to hear of upcoming event details.
Qualifying Organizations
Under the proposed LTA policy, the following returning events would be eligible:
• Hearts of Hermosa
• Spyder Surf Fest
• Fine Arts Festival
• HB Triathlon
• AVP
• International Surf Festival
• Movies at the Beach
As previously stated, the City Council expressed a desire at its October 10 regular meeting to consider the implementation of an LTA with several events that were no longer eligible for fee waiver consideration under the newly adopted Special Event Fee Waiver Policy. These events included:
• Best Day Beach Day
• Fine Arts Festival
• Pets in the Park
• AVP
• Pumpkins in the Park
• Hearts of Hermosa
The Fine Arts Festival, AVP, and Hearts of Hermosa would already be eligible for an LTA, as previously noted. Although the events produced by Friends of the Parks (FOP), which include Pets in the Park and Pumpkins in the Park, would not be eligible under the proposed policy, the Commission recommends the inclusion of these events in future LTA negotiations consistent with the Council’s discussion at its October 10 meeting.
Although staff and the Subcommittee considered the inclusion of the Best Day Beach Day event while creating the LTA policy, it is not deemed to be similar in scale to the events that the proposed LTA policy currently allows, and, therefore, not recommended for this consideration. It was determined that including provisions in the policy that would deem this event eligible for an LTA allows a large number of events to also be eligible, which minimizes the effectiveness of the policy. Without the City Council’s authorization to enter into an agreement with each event’s organization, the Best Day Beach Day event would not qualify for an LTA.
The Commission recommends implementation of the policy for a three-year pilot program with program evaluation by the Commission in two years. This would provide ample time to determine if the policy is fair, comprehensive, and responsive to concerns addressed during policy development. This recommendation was presented and affirmed by the Commission in response to several Commissioners expressing concern over the policy possibly being too restrictive at its November 4 meeting.
General Plan Consistency:
This report and associated recommendation have been evaluated for their consistency with the City’s General Plan. Relevant Policies are listed below:
Governance Element
Goal 1. A high degree of transparency and integrity in the decision-making process.
Policies:
• 1.6 Long-term considerations. Prioritize decisions that provide long-term community benefit and discourage decisions that provide short-term community benefit but reduce long-term opportunities.
Parks and Open Space Element
Goal 3. Community parks and facilities encourage social activity and interaction.
Policies:
• 3.1 Community-friendly events. Encourage, permit, and support community group, nonprofit, or business organized events on City property that support physical activity, beach culture, and family-friendly social interactions.
• 3.2 Social and cultural events. Design and program parks and open space to accommodate unique social and cultural events to foster connectedness and interaction.
• 3.3 Commercial use of facilities. Regulate and enforce commercial use of City parks and open spaces to ensure activities do not impact general use and enjoyment.
Goal 8. Special events at the beach are balanced to support community recreation and economic development without restricting coastal access or impacting the community.
Policies:
• 8.3 Community-focused events. Prioritize the approval of special events that enhance the sense of community, improve economic vitality, and foster a healthy environment and active lifestyles.
• 8.4 Family-focused events. Prioritize events that appeal to a wide segment of community members.
Fiscal Impact:
The fiscal impact is unknown at this time as event fees collected for each event under its LTA would be contingent on negotiated terms.
Attachments:
1. Proposed Long-term Agreement Policy
Respectfully Submitted by: Kelly Orta, Community Resources Manager
Noted for Fiscal Impact: Viki Copeland, Finance Director
Legal Review: Mike Jenkins, City Attorney
Approved: Suja Lowenthal, City Manager