Discuss the proposed amendments to the Special Events Ordinance and direct Staff to prepare a revised ordinance for introduction and first reading at the April City Council meeting. 

The City's Special Events Ordinance (Municipal Code Section 11.25) establishes permitting requirements, operational standards, and associated fees for organized events occurring within the City. The framework is designed to ensure that events are reviewed appropriately based on size, complexity, location, and anticipated impacts to public safety and surrounding neighborhoods.

Permit fees are structured by tier and are intended to recover administrative and processing costs associated with event review and interdepartmental coordinations.

The proposed amendments do not include any fee increases or modifications to the existing fee schedule. All current permit costs would remain unchanged.

Based on administrative experience and recent internal review, staff have identified opportunities to clarify event classifications, eliminate redundancies, and simply the Special Events Tier Table. The following amendments are proposed for Council Discussion:

1. Removal of "Residential Private Event" from the Minor Permit Category
Staff recommends removing the "Residential Private Event" under the Minor Permit Category.

2. Removal of "Private Event at Home" from Tier 1A
Staff proposes removing "Private Event at Home" from Tier 1A of the Special Event Tier Table.

3.modification to "Private Event at Outdoor Facility" Attendance Threshold
Currently, Tier 1A defines a "Private Event at Outdoor Facility" as an event with 50-299 attendees. Staff recommends revising this threshold to apply to event with 100 or more attendees.

4. Restructuring of the Special Events Tier Table
Staff recommends restructuring the Special Events Tier Table to remove subcategories (e.g., Tier 1A) and instead establish a simplified tier structure consisting of:

Aside from the attendance threshold modification described above, no changes to operational requirements or permit costs are proposed. These amendments are administrative in nature and are intended to improve clarity, consistency, and ease of application.

This item is presented for discussion and direction only. If the proposed changes are approved by the City Council, the revised ordinance will be brought forward for introduction and first reading at the April City Council Meeting.