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| PALM BAY RETHINKS EVENTS ORDINANCE by Victor Thompson PALM BAY - The city council will hold an emergency meeting at 8:30am Monday to consider the repeal of a special events ordinance that its challengers say limits freedom of speech. The repeal proposal came amid calls from local activists and a federal lawsuit that contended the city's drive to impose fees for events on public property violated their rights to free speech and peaceful assembly. According to the suit, the ordinance that went into effect Nov. 1, 2001, imposed a lengthy and unregulated permitting process that could apply to almost any event. The resolution going before Mayoe Ed Geier on Monday will abolish the ordinance, stating that city attorney Nick Tsamoutales advised the council to repeal rather than rewrite the ordinance "in order to minimize and mitigate against the expenditure and imposition of legal fees and costs. "It was written to try to make the permitting fair and equitable and balanced," Mayor Ed Geier said. "If it's a violation of rights, we must correct the ordinance." But Melbourne activist and Democratic candidate for the state house Jodi James said the ordinance stifled free speech by imposing a confusing permitting process and costly fees on its residents. "As soon as the city ordinance was actually challenged, the third party advised the city to repeal the ordinance, and the suit was dismissed," said James, who along with Palm Bay city council candidate Carol Heaven-Vega challenged the ordinance. James and Vega filed the lawsuit in the U.S. Court for the Middle District in Orlando on Aug. 5, five days before a planned campaign rally. James, who is running against Rep. Mitch Needelman for the District 31 seat in the Florida House of Representatives, applied for a permit June 28 under the law's 45-day prior notice rule for such an event. By late July, the city officials assigned by the ordinance to approve or deny the application - listed on the permit as the city manager, police chief, and the fire chief - had not contacted them. "We had spoken to the city, we knew what the permit required, and we tried working with the city to be compliant," James said. "It became apparent that not only they were not going to move on this, but no one really knew who was supposed to respond to the permit." A resolution to the ordinance, which establishes fee schedules for a special event permit, requires that applicants pay a refundable security deposit of $250 plus an application fee ranging between $25 and $200 depending on which class the event was designated. The primary definition of a special event was listed in the ordinance as "Any public or private event...in which it can be anticipated that the number of persons attending the event will exceed the on-site parking available at the premisis." The ordinance states that any event in which city services may be used - including street dances, block parties, parades, marches, and fireworks displays - are also special events. |