Honorable Mayor and Members of the Hermosa Beach City Council
Regular Meeting of April 9, 2024
Title
CONSIDERATION OF APPROVAL OF ADDITIONAL EVENT DAYS
TO THE LOS ANGELES RAMS NFL DRAFT EXPERIENCE
(Community Resources Manager Lisa Nichols)
Body
Recommended Action:
Recommendation
Staff recommends City Council provide direction on the request for additional event days, as outlined in the discussion section of the following staff report, to the Los Angeles Rams National Football League Draft Experience.
Body
Executive Summary:
The City of Hermosa Beach is a highly sought-after destination for special events. Pursuant to the Special Events Policy Guide, the Community Resources Department is tasked with overseeing these event requests and permits on public property. At its February 27, 2024 meeting, City Council held a public hearing and approved the inclusion of a new Impact Level III Special Event for the Los Angeles Rams (Rams) National Football League (NFL) Draft Experience on the 2024 Special Events Calendar. The approved event is to take place on Schumacher Plaza, Pier Plaza, and the beach south of the Pier on Monday, April 22 through Friday, May 3, including load-in and load-out.
On Sunday, March 24, 2024, staff received an application from the event producers requesting the additional event days of Saturday, April 27; Sunday, April 28; and Thursday, May 2, and site plan adjustments. At its March 26, 2024 meeting, Councilmember Jackson requested, and Mayor Pro Tem Francois and Councilmember Detoy supported, directing staff to return with the event producers’ request for additional event days for the Los Angeles Rams NFL Draft Experience for City Council’s formal review at its April 9, 2024 meeting.
Background:
The Special Events Policy Guide (Attachment 1) serves as a comprehensive document for event producers with information on the review and approval process, applicable fees, policies, and Hermosa Beach Municipal Code chapters and sections pertaining to special events. Special events are evaluated based on several factors and categorized as either Impact Level I, II, or III using the Impact Characteristics Matrix in the Special Events Policy Guide. The matrix considers event characteristics to determine the Impact Level such as: the total estimated attendance; the event location; the day and season in which the event is requesting would take place; the total number of consecutive event days; and special requests such as reserved parking, amplified sound, etc. The Impact Level of the event is then used to determine the deadline for application submittal, and the level of review and approval required (City staff, Parks, Recreation and Community Resources Advisory Commission, and/or City Council) for the event. Impact Level III events, which are events with the largest impact to the City, require approval by City Council. Impact Level II events require approval by the Commission and Impact Level I events are approved by staff.
Special event application deadlines are as follows:
• New events: If the new event is an Impact Level I or II, the application must be submitted at least 90 days in advance of the event. If the new event is an Impact Level III, the application must be submitted no later than July 30 for the following calendar year.
• Returning Impact Level III events: Must be submitted no later than July 30 for the following calendar year.
• Returning Impact Level II events: Must be submitted at least 90 days in advance of the event.
• Returning Level I events: Must be submitted at least 30 days in advance of the event.
At the discretion of the Community Resources Manager, special event applications may be submitted for consideration after the application submittal deadline has passed, provided:
• there are unforeseeable circumstances (memorial service, team victory celebration, need for minimal marketing/advertising);
• the event does not exceed peak season event limits; and
• the event can still meet all the event approval findings.
Staff began accepting applications from all event producers interested in applying for 2024 event dates regardless of each event’s Impact Level on June 14, 2023. Event producers with new event requests or returning Impact Level III event requests were required to submit a special event application by July 30, 2023.
On November 15, 2023, staff received a late new Impact Level III special event application for the Rams NFL Draft Experience from the Los Angeles Rams and BuzzHive Creative. The event producers requested use of the beach south of the Pier from Thursday, April 25 through Sunday, May 5. Staff did not move forward with formal consideration of the late special event application by Commission or City Council due to concerns with the event as initially proposed, including:
• impact to the City’s volleyball classes on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays;
• impact to the Los Angeles County Lifeguards’ access to the beach;
• impact to the access to the downtown area and beach considering other events scheduled at each location on several dates throughout the event producer’s requested event dates;
• impact on the planning for other events, including the City’s Surfers Walk of Fame Weekend and scheduled City projects. The event would require a significant amount of planning and overtime for several City Departments, including the City Manager’s Office, Community Resources, Community Development, Human Resources (Risk Management), Police and Public Works; and
• exceedance of event limits outlined in the Special Events Policy Guide.
On January 14, 2024, staff received two revised applications from the event producers providing two proposals for consideration addressing many of the concerns previously outlined, except for the impacts to the planning and staff resources required for other scheduled events and City projects. The event producers requested staff move forward with formal consideration of the late special event applications and shared that the initial special event application was submitted late due to an unforeseeable circumstance. The event producers shared that 2024 would mark the first year that the Rams would have a first-round pick in the NFL draft since 2016, and that this was only finalized in October 2023, hence, placing the special event application outside the application timeline.
Staff presented both proposals to the Commission at its February 6, 2024 meeting, through a public hearing. The Commission recommended City Council approve the inclusion of new Impact Level III Special Event, the Rams NFL Draft Experience on Schumacher Plaza, Pier Plaza, and the beach south of the Pier as proposed in Proposal B on Monday, April 22 through Friday, May 3, including load-in and load-out, on the 2024 Special Events Calendar.
At its February 27, 2024 meeting, City Council held a public hearing and approved the Commission’s recommendation. The approval provided an exception to the Special Events Policy Guide, which states the number of event days for events outside of the Peak Season (Labor Day to Memorial Day) is up to a maximum of 15 per month. Approval of Proposal B resulted in a total of 21 event days in April at the time of the February 27, 2024 meeting. Since then, staff received two event cancellations. Therefore, there is a total of 19 event days scheduled in April at the drafting of this report.
At its March 26, 2024 meeting, Councilmember Jackson requested, and Mayor Pro Tem Francois and Councilmember Detoy supported, directing staff to return with the event producers’ request for additional event days for the Los Angeles Rams NFL Draft Experience for City Council’s formal review at its April 9, 2024 meeting.
Past Commission and Council Actions
Discussion:
On Sunday, March 24, 2024, staff received an application from the event producers for the Rams NFL Draft Experience requesting additional event days and site plan adjustments such as an enhanced stage and tents on the beach south of the Pier, and additional activations on Schumacher Plaza and Pier Plaza for the approved event days of Thursday, April 24 and Friday, April 25. The requested additional event days would be Saturday, April 27, Sunday, April 28, and Thursday, May 2. The event activity proposed for the requested additional event days would include programming of the football field and tents for shade and water stations on the beach south of the Pier.
The application received by staff on January 14, 2024 for Proposal B shared the football field would remain in place without scheduled event activity on Saturday, April 27, and Sunday, April 28, to avoid conflict with the Surfers Walk of Fame weekend, and event activity would resume Monday, April 29 through Wednesday, May 1. Therefore, the event producers are requesting two new event dates, on Saturday, April 27 and Sunday, April 28, and to modify one of its scheduled load-out days, Thursday, May 2, 2024, to an event day.
Per the Special Events Policy Guide, only two events on any given day are permitted in the City. Approval of the additional event days requested would result in a total of three events on Saturday, April 27, resulting in the need for an exemption to the policy by City Council. The event producers are also requesting an amplified sound permit for the additional event days requested. Therefore, approval of the additional event days as proposed would provide for amplified sound simultaneously on the beach south of the Pier and Pier Plaza on Saturday, April 27.
Additionally, the City has the following recreation programs scheduled on the beach south of the Pier on the additional event days requested:
• Saturday, April 27: Yoga from 9-10 a.m. and Volleyball from 9:30-11:45 a.m.;
• Sunday, April 28: Volleyball 9:15-11:30 a.m.; and
• Thursday, May 2: Volleyball from 5-7 p.m. and a Flag Football League from 6-7 p.m.
The event producers agreed to relocate the volleyball courts within the commercial zone south of Pier to avoid interruption of the City’s volleyball classes throughout the week. If the additional event days requested are approved, staff would work with the event producers to limit impact to the yoga class and Flag Football League.
Lastly, the event producers would request use of Parking Lot A for event related vehicles on the additional event days requested. The entirety of Parking Lot B would be reserved for the Surfers Walk of Fame Induction Ceremony and Spyder Surf Fest on Saturday, April 28, 2024. If the additional event days requested are approved, staff would work with the event producers to limit the parking impacts as much as possible on Saturday, April 28, 2024, and all other scheduled event days.
Additional event details are included in the Rams NFL Draft Experience event overview sheet (Attachment 4) and included on the 2024 Special Events Calendar (Attachment 5).
Environmental Review:
The approval of this event is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act pursuant to CEQA Guidelines section 15304 (e). This event is a minor, temporary use of land in the form of a temporary viewing party and accompanying events/booths as well as a temporary arena sized field of play for various activities and clinics. This type of temporary event will have negligible or no permanent effect on the environment.
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 5. Small beach town character is reflected throughout Hermosa Beach.
Policy:
• 5.7 Visitor and resident balance. Recognizing the desire and need to balance visitor-serving and local-serving uses as a key to preserving character and the economic vitality of the community.
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.
Goal 7. The beach offers high quality recreational opportunities and amenities desired by the community.
Policies:
• 7.3 Recreational asset. Consider and treat the beach as a recreational asset and never as a commercial enterprise.
• 7.5 Designated recreational uses. Continually evaluate and explore devoting certain portions of the beach to different preferred recreational uses while providing access for all users and meeting the recreation needs of visitors and residents.
Fiscal and Operational Impact:
The estimated event revenue for Proposal B, as approved by City Council on February 27, 2024, would be $48,587 in indirect costs. If the additional event days are approved, the estimated event revenue would increase by $9,639, totaling $58,226. Additional direct costs would be charged to the event producer for required permits, services, and/or staff from the Los Angeles County Fire Department, Community Resources Department, Community Development Department, Police Department, and the Public Works Department. The required permits, staff and/or services from each department, that would incur additional fees would include, but are not limited to:
• Los Angeles County Fire Department: special event permit and event inspections.
• Community Resources Department: special event and film permitting processing, and day-of-event staff to monitor the event and ensure all policies and procedures are followed.
• Community Development Department: Building and Safety permitting and inspections.
• Police Department: Officers and/or Sergeants to work with security guards provided by the event producer, to ensure public safety on event days. Community Service Officers to oversee reserved parking requests.
• Public Works Department: Engineering staff to review, modify as needed, and approve the load-in and load-out plan, and traffic control plan. Operations and maintenance staff to monitor the event load-in and load-out.
If the requested event dates are approved, the required permits, staff and/or services from each department for the added event days specifically would be:
• Community Resources Department: day-of-event staff to monitor the event and ensure all policies and procedures are followed.
• Police Department: Officers and/or Sergeants to work with security guards provided by the event producer, to ensure public safety on event days. Community Service Officers to oversee reserved parking requests.
The aforementioned list does not include the operational impacts from the event planning and coordination efforts between City departments to plan and coordinate the items listed above, amongst numerous other event details, which would include, but are not limited to:
• Evaluation of the following:
o event-site plan;
o potential impacts to parking or downtown operations;
o traffic control plan;
o event marketing plan;
o trash management plan; and
o the plan for portable restrooms services.
• Determining the grading requirements on the beach.
• Event noticing.
• Approval of the post-event clean-up plan.
• Event billing.
Additionally, as April and the following summer months that follow are high activity for the City in terms of event planning and oversight, the coordination and oversight of this event would divert staff from, and delay, other planned work.
Attachments:
1. Special Events Policy Guide
2. February 6, 2024 Commission Staff Report
3. February 27, 2024 City Council Staff Report
4. Los Angeles Rams NFL Draft Experience Event Overview Sheet
5. 2024 Special Events Calendar
Respectfully Submitted by: Lisa Nichols, Community Resources Manager
Noted for Fiscal Impact: Viki Copeland, Finance Director
Legal Review: Patrick Donegan, City Attorney
Approved: Suja Lowenthal, City Manager