The Village of Mahomet board of trustees will revisit a new special events ordinance prior to a vote on Oct. 20.
The Village staff said this ordinance would formalize the process of events within Village limits by requiring event coordinators to submit a form 30 days in advance of the event. Village Administrator Patrick Brown said that the Village also needed to be aware of first amendment rights.
A fee will not be assessed with the permit.
Municipalities often hold ordinances that require a permit for gatherings on public or private property including, but not limited to, parades, festivals, block parties, athletic events, outdoor concerts, circuses, rodeos, fireworks displays, carnivals, movie or television productions, or other public meetings or events that would require street closures, additional police or those held on city property.
Brown said the discussion began after the July ‘Paign to Peace Protest where several people said the group did not need a permit to march in public streets. Brown said they did, even in Champaign, but Champaign waived the permit requirement during COVID.
“The Constitution of course, Illinois as well, certainly gives people the right to protest, and there’s no dispute over that. But it does not get people rights to impede traffic or require road closures, and that’s certainly where a special event permit or form, as we called it before…were required to fill out. When we have this ordinance it will certainly put more solid backbone into that.”
Brown said that not all events would be subject to the 30 day permit submission guidelines. But if the event required things like street closures or additional resources, such as police, they would need to give the Village ample time to plan.
Hours for gatherings were also added to the ordinance. Brown said that even though the document says a 7 a.m. beginning time and a 10 p.m. as a cutoff, the Village understands that gatherings, such as the Mahomet Music Festival, would run later.
Discretion for approval or boundaries of an event would be delegated to the Village Administrator. Those decisions could be appealed to the Village board and mayor.
Event organizers will also be required to give vendor tax ID numbers and information to the village while also showing proof of insurance and could be responsible for reimbursing the Village in compensation for Police Department and Public Works staffing to be present at the function.
Brown said during the ‘Paign to Peace event, the Village utilized all public works and most of the police staff to open and close intersections. He said that the organization would not have been subject to pay a fee for all the staffing time.
The American Civil Liberties Union states that the permit fee and insurance requirements associated with local ordinances should be waived if someone cannot afford it.
According to the ACLU, permits are not required for protests “as long as marchers don’t obstruct car or pedestrian traffic.”
But, the ACLU also says, “certain types of events may require permits. These include a march or parade that requires blocking traffic or street closure; a large rally requiring the use of sound amplifying devices; or a rally over a certain size at most parks or plazas.
Local authorities cannot use permits or procedures to “prevent a protest in response to breaking news events” or “a permit cannot be denied because the event is controversial or will express unpopular views (ACLU).”
After the ‘Paign to Peace protest, the Village began to put special events on their website as a way for people in the community to be notified of upcoming events.
The Village has updated the special events form/permit to include march when the only choice prior to was parade. Parades will continue to be on the form.
Brown said block parties, school fundraiser celebrations, parades, athletic events, festivals, non-profit events and public assemblies are just some examples of groups that would fill these permits out.
“Nothing’s really going to change about past precedent, to how those events are handled,” Brown said. “It’s not our event. We’re not in charge of it. But they do require our resources to be aware of it. So we would ask them to fill out this special event form. They’re not going to have insurance and not going to add anything like that.”
