The purpose of this report is to request City Council introduction of an ordinance amending Burbank Municipal Code, Chapter 5, Article 8, Use of Park Facilities, Section 5-801, Permits for the Use of Park Facilities. It is staff�s recommendation that Subsection (a) Use of Park Facilities, item (1) any group of fifty (50) or more persons be amended to read any group of twenty-five (25) or more persons.

The Burbank park reservation program has been in use for several years, and is designed to manage park facilities usage by requiring groups to obtain a reservation permit in order to use a park facility if their recreation needs fall into either of two conditions. These conditions are as follows: 1) the group plans to utilize outside paid services for their park event, such as renting a moon bouncer, or 2) the group is larger than 50 people. Those who utilize the park reservation program are required to visit the Park, Recreation and Community Services park reservation counter in order to complete the necessary permit application materials (see Attachment I). The group is also required to pay a user fee based upon the criteria listed in the City Wide Fee Schedule (Attachment II).

The goal of the park reservation program is always to best serve the recreation needs of both residents and non-residents through administering the usage of park facilities. In addition to providing for park areas to be reserved in advance, the program also assures staff availability in opening and closing facilities based upon reservation needs. The Burbank Police Department Park Patrol detail is also notified of specific reservation and use information, and is then able to ensure that those using the park facilities are not concerned with individuals or groups who would otherwise diminish the recreation experience.

During FY 2001-02 staff received a number of complaints from neighbors of individual parks concerning excessive usage by private groups. A meeting was scheduled to discuss specific concerns and potential solutions. Staff also received complaints from permitted groups concerning over crowding in the parks.

Park, Recreation and Community Services staff met with the designated Police Officer assigned to the Park Patrol detail. During the course of his and other assigned officer�s patrol, they contacted numerous groups, many of which fall under the fifty (50) person threshold. Such groups, who do not require special services, are not required to obtain a permit which makes it difficult to know where and when these gatherings will take place. As such, certain popular parks are being overused contributing to excessive noise, neighborhood parking issues, and potential control problems. This information was also confirmed by Park, Recreation and Community Services staff assigned to weekend duty.

By requiring medium sized groups (25-50) to obtain permits, staff will be in a better position to oversee park usage. Once the maximum level of permit groups has been met at one of our facilities, any additional permitted groups would be directed to other parks.

Ultimately, this will provide a more quality experience for the individual permit groups and it will provide better control within the park. Also of note is that anyone securing a permit is the point contact in an inquiry or investigation if there is any misuse of the facilities attributable to the group. Obtaining a contact person, if the group does not have a permit, is very difficult, even in the field. In addition, this new policy will also benefit the neighbors of our parks, who initially brought these concerns to our attention.

Requiring medium sized groups, in addition to large groups to obtain a permit provides more control over facility usage and resultant parking issues. The permitted groups will also be directed to specific designated locations in the interior of the park. This will have a positive affect on the excessive noise levels that occasionally occur in the surrounding neighborhoods.

It is anticipated that the City of Burbank will receive a limited amount of additional revenue from the adoption of this proposed ordinance. It is not anticipated that the additional permitting will require any increased staffing.

It is staff�s recommendation that the Burbank City Council introduce the proposed ordinance in order to amend Article 8, Section 5-801, (a), (1), Use of Park Facilities of the Burbank Municipal Code.

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