§ 9-710. General Admission or Festival Seating. 974

   (1)   Definitions. 975

      (a)   Admission Charge or Cover Charge. The regular monetary charge received from the public by the owners and/or operators of a place of assembly for the privilege to enter upon the premises.

      (b)   Festival seating. A type of unreserved or general admission seating offered in a public place of assembly whereby the ticket holder is not assigned a specified seat in which to sit during the time of assembly and is offered a choice of any unspecified seat or an unspecified location in which to stand during that assembly.

      (c)   Public place of assembly. Any theater, arena, stadium, concert hall or other public place of assembly having a total seating capacity, as determined by the Fire Code, of 2,000 persons or more.

      (d)   Sponsor. Any person, group, club, association, partnership, limited partnership, corporation or other entity which arranges for and promotes an event which is to be held at a public place of assembly.

   (2)   General Provisions.

      (a)   The sponsor of an event which is to be held at a public place of assembly where tickets are offered for sale for festival seats shall be required to submit to the Licenses and Inspections Commissioner or his designee a detailed security and crowd control plan, including but not limited to:

         (.1)   number of tickets to be sold, including a breakdown of the number of tickets sold for reserved and festival seating;

         (.2)   amount of space and plan of area where festival seating would take place;

         (.3)   number of entrances to be opened for admittance to building, and, if applicable, the number of entrances to be used solely for admission to the festival seating area or areas;

         (.4)   number of staff, including security personnel, at each entrance.

      (b)   Plans as required by subsection 9-709(2)(a) shall be submitted to the Department of Licenses and Inspections at least 10 days prior to the date of the event, or in the case of an event which is to be held on multiple dates, at least 10 days prior to the first day of the event.

      (c)   The Department of Licenses and Inspections shall notify the Police Department of the receipt of plans as required in 9-710(2)(a) and shall forward copies of these plans to the Fire Department and Police Department for approval.

      (d)   The Commissioner of Licenses and Inspections or his designee shall have the authority to order additional staffing at entrances as well as the placement of barriers, or removal of barriers as required, or any additional authority needed to insure the safety of the patrons.

      (e)   The sponsor of the event shall print on the ticket the time at which patrons shall be permitted to enter the facility.

         (.1)   The sponsor shall be prepared to open the doors at least two hours ahead of the scheduled opening if necessary, or if directed to do so by the City, to avoid risk of substantial danger or injury to persons or property.

      (f)   The provisions contained in this Section shall be in addition to the requirements and other provisions set forth under other Sections of this Chapter applicable to the particular event which is being held.

      (g)   Nothing in this Section shall be construed in any way as limiting in any fashion whatsoever the liability of those responsible for the management and operations of the event, including the employment of adequate personnel for security, safety, health and sanitation.

      (h)   The existence of an admission charge or cover charge must be conspicuously displayed at the entrance of the place of assembly. 976

      (i)   Any place of assembly as defined in Title 4, 977 the Building Code, which levies an admission or cover charge shall provide the customer with a prenumbered receipt. The receipt shall indicate what benefits, if any, are provided with the payment of the admission or cover charges. 978

         (.1)   Admission Charges shall be subject to the provisions of Chapter 19-600 of The Philadelphia Code entitled Amusement Tax.

   (3)   Penalties.  979 In addition to any penalties imposed under Section 9-105, any sponsor found guilty of violation of this Section shall be prohibited from holding any future festival seating event in the City of Philadelphia, for a period of two (2) years.

   (4)   Enforcement. The Department of Licenses and Inspections shall enforce all provisions of this Section.

 

Notes

974	Added, 1980 Ordinances, p. 72.
975	Bill No. 907 (approved February 16, 1995), 1995 Ordinances, p. 48, added definition (a) and renumbered existing subsections (a) through (c).
976	Added, Bill No. 907 (approved February 16, 1995), 1995 Ordinances, p. 48. Section 2 of the Ordinance provides that it takes effect in 60 days.
977	Referenced material now appears in Title 4, Subcode B.
978	Added, Bill No. 907 (approved February 16, 1995), 1995 Ordinances, p. 48. Section 2 of the Ordinance provides that it takes effect in 60 days.
979	Amended, 1990 Ordinances, p. 715.