(a) General. This Section 1060.29.2 provides a procedure for permitting a Person to conduct One Time Outdoor Amplified Sound on the premises specified in the One Time Outdoor Amplified Sound Permit. The One Time Outdoor Amplified Sound Permit is not intended to function as a routine substitute for securing a Fixed Place Outdoor Amplified Sound Permit when the Person or Business’s course of conduct indicates that that permit would be more appropriate to seek.
(b) Director’s Authority.
(1) Except as otherwise provided in this Section 1060.29.2, the Director may issue One Time Outdoor Amplified Sound Permits and applicants may appeal the Director’s denial of an application to the Entertainment Commission. Notwithstanding the foregoing sentence, the Director may, in the Director’s sole discretion, refer an application for a One-Time Outdoor Amplified Sound Event Permit to the Commission for hearing and a determination.
(2) Where the Director submits an application to the Commission, and the Commission grants the One Time Outdoor Amplified Sound Permit, the Director may, without further action by the Commission, approve subsequent applications for the same One Time Outdoor Amplified Sound occurrence for future dates provided that (A) the subsequent application(s) contain no material changes regarding the nature or scope of the event, (B) neither the Commission nor any other City agency has received complaints pertaining to the prior event(s), and (C) any permit conditions imposed by the Commission when granting the initial permit are included in any and all such subsequent permits.
(c) Permit Application.
(1) Every Person seeking a permit pursuant to this Section 1060.29.2 shall file an application on a form provided by the Commission with the Director no less than seven days before the proposed use, and shall pay the filing fee provided in Section 2.26 of this Code, except as otherwise provided in Section 1060.29.2(j). The time limitation for the filing of a permit application may be waived by the Director if the applicant can show that the event or events giving rise to the permit application did not reasonably allow the applicant time to file within the time prescribed and imposition of the time limitations would place an unreasonable restriction on the right of free speech.
(2) The application shall include the information required under subsection (a)(8) of Section 1060.3.2 of this Article 15.1 with regard to the use of outdoor Amplified Sound Equipment.
(3) The Director shall send the application to the Police Department for input, which the Police Department shall provide to the Director within three City business days of receiving the application.
(d) Duration and Number of Permits.
(1) Consecutive or Non-Consecutive Days; Duration. A Person may obtain a single One Time Outdoor Amplified Sound Permit authorizing events during consecutive or non-consecutive 24-hour periods for the same premises. One Time Outdoor Amplified Sound Permits may not authorize events on the same premises for consecutive 24-hour periods without a six-hour break between the end time for the first 24-hour period and the start time for the next 24-hour period.
(2) No More Than 12 Days Per Year For The Same Premises Without Additional Review. There shall be no limit on the number of One Time Outdoor Amplified Sound Permits a Person may obtain. One Time Outdoor Amplified Sound Permits may be issued for events that will occur on consecutive days on the same premises or on non-consecutive days within a 10-day period on the same premises. At any premises where One Time Outdoor Amplified Sound Permits have been issued at least 12 times within the previous 12-month period, upon receipt of a permit application for a One Time Outdoor Amplified Sound Permit, the Entertainment Commission, or its Director as delegated by the Entertainment Commission, shall hold a hearing on the permit application to ensure that the legal standards for granting the permit(s) are met, to determine what conditions, if any, may be appropriate to place on the permit(s), and to ensure that the One Time Outdoor Amplified Sound Permit is not intended to function as a routine substitute for a Person’s securing a Fixed Place Outdoor Amplified Sound Permit, Place of Entertainment Permit, or Limited Live Performance Permit as applicable. The Entertainment Commission, or its Director as delegated by the Entertainment Commission, may, in its discretion, determine that a hearing is not required, if the available evidence indicates that the application is likely to satisfy all of the requirements of this subsection (d)(2).
(3) Multiple Permits on the Same Day. A Person may obtain more than one One Time Outdoor Amplified Sound Permit for the same day. In such an instance, in considering whether to grant the permit(s) and/or place conditions on the permit(s), the Director, or Entertainment Commission as appropriate in the Director’s stead under subsection (b)(1), shall review each permit application to ensure that the standards for granting the permit(s) are met and to determine what conditions, if any, may be appropriate to place on the permit(s). In addition, if the applicant submits an application for more than one One Time Outdoor Amplified Sound Permits for the same day less than 40 days prior to the day of the event, the Director or Entertainment Commission may disapprove the application(s) on the ground that the applicant filed too late to provide adequate time to evaluate the application(s) so as to determine whether the permit(s) should be granted and/or whether conditions should be placed on the permit(s).
(e) Grant or Denial of Permit.
(1) The Director, or Entertainment Commission as appropriate in the Director’s stead under subsection (b)(1), shall review applications for a One Time Outdoor Amplified Sound Permit according to the standards set forth in Section 1060.5.2(f) and (g) and shall grant a permit unless the Director finds that (A) the application was filed less than seven days before the proposed event and a waiver was not granted or warranted, (B) denial is warranted under any of the grounds set forth in Section 1060.5.2(f), or (C) another application has been submitted and a permit issued for the same premises during the same time period. If another application has been submitted for the same time and place and is still pending, the Director shall deny the application unless the applicant requests that it remain open until the Director has determined whether to grant or deny any earlier-filed application. When multiple applicants submit complete applications for the same time and place, the Director shall make determinations on them in the order in which they were received.
(2) If the permit is denied, the Director shall state in writing the reason for the denial and shall notify the applicant of the determination electronically and either by mail or personal delivery.
(f) Conditions.
(1) When granting a One Time Outdoor Amplified Sound Permit, the Director, or Enteratinment1 Commission as appropriate in the Director’s stead under subsection (b)(1), shall require the applicant as a condition of the permit to comply with the outdoor amplified sound regulations in Section 1060.16 of this Article 15.1. If a permit applicant seeks permit conditions that diverge from any of the aforementioned regulations, the application must be heard and decided by the Commission, not the Director. Once the Commission has granted a One Time Outdoor Amplified Sound Event Permit to a particular Permittee for a particular special event, the Director may, on subsequent occasions, issue one or more One Time Outdoor Amplified Sound Event Permits to the same Permittee for the same event at the same location with the same permit conditions previously approved by the Commission.
(2) The Director or the Entertainment Commission may impose additional reasonable restrictions on the time, place, and manner of the use of amplified sound. The Director or Entertainment Commission shall in no event impose conditions pursuant to this Section 1060.29.2 which are designed to limit the content of First Amendment expression engaged in by persons affected by the permit or which unreasonably interfere with the right of free speech.
(g) Appeal to Entertainment Commission.
(1) An applicant for a One Time Amplified Sound Permit who files an application at least 40 days before the date of the proposed event shall have the right to appeal the Director’s denial of the application to the Entertainment Commission. The Director shall act on applications filed at least 40 days before the event within a time period that allows for an appeal to the Commission. The applicant may appeal the Director’s decision to the Entertainment Commission by filing a written request for review within five City business days of the Director’s decision. The Commission shall hear and decide the appeal as expeditiously as possible, but in no event later than 21 days after the date that the applicant filed the appeal.
(2) Applicants who do not file at least 40 days before the proposed event shall have no right to appeal a denial of the application to the Entertainment Commission unless the Commission has sufficient time to schedule and provide notice of the hearing on the matter for a regularly scheduled meeting. If the applicant has filed the application less than 40 days before the proposed event and the Commission does not have sufficient time to provide the required public notice of the appeal for a regularly scheduled meeting, the Commission is not required to consider the matter. When an applicant files an application less than 40 days before the proposed event, the Director shall inform the applicant that there may be insufficient time for the applicant to appeal the Director’s denial to the Commission.
(h) Non-Transferable. One Time Amplified Sound Permits are not transferable. The Permit is valid only for the Person to whom it is issued for the premises specified in the permit.
(i) Judicial Review. An applicant may seek immediate judicial review of an adverse decision by the Director under this Section 1060.29.2 pursuant to California Code of Civil Procedure Section 1085 or Section 1094.8, as those provisions may be amended, including any successor provisions, or any other procedure provided by law. The applicant may, but is not required to, exhaust his or her administrative remedies before the Entertainment Commission and Board of Appeals.
(j) Waiver of Filing Fee.
(1) All filing fees for One Time Outdoor Amplified Sound Permits are hereby waived for applicants that previously held a JAM Permit and seek the One Time Outdoor Amplified Sound Permit in order to continue activities previously allowed under their JAM Permit while awaiting final approvals by the Department of Public Works or other City departments that are required prior to obtaining a Place of Entertainment Permit, Limited Live Performance Permit, or Fixed Place Outdoor Amplified Sound Permit.
(2) Any filing fee that is waived pursuant to this subsection (j) but that has been paid, shall be refunded, without interest, upon request of the payor of the fee to the Entertainment Commission. Any refund request under this subsection (j) must be filed in writing with the Entertainment Commission by June 30, 2025.
CODIFICATION NOTE