2 21-0396 Subject: City Special Events And Use Of Public Spaces
From: Council President Fortunato-Bas
Recommendation: Receive An Oral Informational Report On The City's Event Permitting Processes Including Existing Permitting Processes For Events At Parks And Public Spaces And The Special Events Ordinance And Discuss Potential Terms for Community Programming At Public Spaces Citywide And City Policy To Implement Such Uses Through Pilot Programs Such As A Park Ambassador Model That Reduces Reliance On Police Resources
The police at Lake Merritt aren't keeping anyone safe; they're an oppressive presence and a waste of city resources. Civilian Park Ambassadors could be beneficial in many ways, and should be supported with the money currently going to police for this function. We need public spaces and parks throughout Oakland, developed with an equity lens for the impact on all.
How much can the Lake take? It’s about park capacity and impact…
As a resident living on Bellevue, and former head of Children's Fairyland, my concern is that events inside the park do not exceed the capacity of the space to handle them, and the associated impact on existing stakeholders and wildlife.
--All of the community institutions at the park--Fairyland, the Rotary Nature Center, the Junior Center for Arts and Science, The Gardens at Lakeside Park, the Sailboat House, concerts at the Bandstand, the lawn bowling center--rely on summer weekend business to survive. All are not-for-profit, have provided no or low-cost services to Oaklanders for many decades. Overcrowding on these days will turn folks away, and lost revenue could be dramatic.
--Bellevue is the only artery through the park. Any blockage whatsoever prevents emergency vehicles from having access, and completely shuts down the park. Some large events in the past have shown the negative impact--and dangers--associated with blocking this critical one-way road.
--Parking on Bellevue is necessary for the survival of the community institutions mentioned. Parking is already at a premium—vending and large events could overwhelm an already limited capacity.
--Overly-amplified sound disrupts the wildlife at our refuge, as well as the quiet enjoyment of the park.
Park ambassadors are a must to help balance competing interests at Lakeside Park.
In the 2020 Report of the Promise of Oakland’s Parks, the Justice Potential Park Benefits were identified as Health and Wellness, Community Safety and Connection, Economic and Cultural Vitality, Environment Protection and Climate Resilience, and ABOVE ALL ELSE (98%) Positive Youth Opportunity.
The report underscores need for robust youth educational and recreational programming. Priority must be given to youth programming as well as increased health and wellness activities for Oaklanders of any age. (95%)
Oaklanders also favor visiting parks for social benefits. Page 28 emphasizes this quote: “I would love it if Oakland Parks starting doing family nights at parks. . .BUT NOT A STRESSFUL FESTIVAL ATMOSPHERE”
That is not what we have at Lake Merritt. Weekly commercial vending diverts City resources from youth and family wellness activities. Hours of amplified music in the park interferes with religious services and drives away park users looking for regular green space recreation, not a festival. Late-night DJ parties occur several times a week next to the wildlife sanctuary. Oaklanders have told the City again and again that amplified music disrupts sleep and daily activities and is detrimental to their health. Regulated noise must be a priority health consideration in the City’s planning of public plaza and parkland use.
An effective park ambassador program must be implemented to assure equitable use of parks and fulfill the promise of Oakland parks.
Council President Bas recommendation to implement A Park Ambassador Model that Reduces Reliance on Police Resources is necessary to regulate and educate the varied ad hoc or possibly proposed uses of my District's primary park, Lake Merritt, in a safe and healthful manner. This model needs implementation immediately to manage the visitors and vendors wishing to be on the Lake after the July 4th weekend, when funding is exhausted that supported the OPD and city administrator's Lakeshore closure and OBVA El Embarcadero marketplace. I approve of seeing OFD as well as Municipal Parking Enforcement on Lakeshore during this period of resetting the tone at Lake Merritt.
I implore you to not abandon continued efforts to keep Lake Merritt a wildlife refuge nestled within a residential setting.
Wishing you wisdom as you negotiate and design systems that will affect the remainder of my life, as I age in place, in my Oakland neighborhood on Lakeshore Avenue.
Low Income Tenant, since 1976
I support efforts to develop a park ambassador program. Ambassadors must be trained in de-escalation, conflict resolution, & negotiation, know park & municipal rules, and help educate park visitors. Many visitors to Lake Merritt don't know it is a wildlife refuge. Ambassadors must be given enforcement mechanisms to provide effective compliance and deterrence. Citations don’t need to be the first course of action but are necessary tools when other solutions fail to mitigate harmful behaviors. In changing the event’s process at parks, no park should have the level of activity that Lake Merritt has had. Special events should be limited in number & duration. Rules are needed to protect public health such as limits on noise levels. The World Health Organization states noise is an underestimated threat that can cause a number of short- and long-term health problems such as cardiovascular effects, poorer work/school performance, hearing impairment, anxiety, depression & impairment of early childhood development. Neighbors by the Lake are bombarded w/noise for 16-24 hours on weekends reaching levels of 70+ dB inside-well above the WHO safe level of 30dB. Consideration needs to be given to ensure the public’s access & enjoyment of natural resources & recreational opportunities at parks. As a wildlife refuge, Lake Merritt is not an appropriate place for a long-term vending market. Other suitable public spaces should be found & resources given to support the market at the new location
I fully support CM Bas's plan to create a Park Ambassador program at Lake Merritt. The current interventions the were implemented by CM Bas have had a huge positive impact for me any family. As a black homeowner on Lakeshore Ave, the conditions on Lakeshore were unlivable and unsustainable (as reflected in reports from the PRAC sub-committee and statements by CM Bas). The illegal vending, illegal parking, amplified noise, late night parties and drag races/sideshows, create a situation that prevented my family from literally being able to get out of our home, and our infant daughter from receive medications (due to delivery services not being able to make it to our home because of the traffic) and sleeping in her room since the noise would rattle our windows constantly waking her up. Implementing the ambassador program would help reduce reliance on OPD resources and provide and enforcement entity that is partnership with the community and lake visitors while also being able to ensure illegal activities do not reoccur.
I support the pilot Park Ambassador program to help change the tone at the Lake. Ambassadors would go a long way to helping remind park users to pick up their trash, desist from amplified music, and to help control unregulated vending. The Lake can be restored to a park used by all of us and having well trained ambassadors reminding park patrons to be good neighbors is a positive start. Regulating vending via permitting and finding a more suitable location is also important. There isn't the space in the parks around the Lake and traffic management has been unmanageable since unpermitted vending started.
I support the creation of park ambassadors who can help uphold and develop community agreements at the Lake.
The police at Lake Merritt aren't keeping anyone safe; they're an oppressive presence and a waste of city resources. Civilian Park Ambassadors could be beneficial in many ways, and should be supported with the money currently going to police for this function. We need public spaces and parks throughout Oakland, developed with an equity lens for the impact on all.
How much can the Lake take? It’s about park capacity and impact…
As a resident living on Bellevue, and former head of Children's Fairyland, my concern is that events inside the park do not exceed the capacity of the space to handle them, and the associated impact on existing stakeholders and wildlife.
--All of the community institutions at the park--Fairyland, the Rotary Nature Center, the Junior Center for Arts and Science, The Gardens at Lakeside Park, the Sailboat House, concerts at the Bandstand, the lawn bowling center--rely on summer weekend business to survive. All are not-for-profit, have provided no or low-cost services to Oaklanders for many decades. Overcrowding on these days will turn folks away, and lost revenue could be dramatic.
--Bellevue is the only artery through the park. Any blockage whatsoever prevents emergency vehicles from having access, and completely shuts down the park. Some large events in the past have shown the negative impact--and dangers--associated with blocking this critical one-way road.
--Parking on Bellevue is necessary for the survival of the community institutions mentioned. Parking is already at a premium—vending and large events could overwhelm an already limited capacity.
--Overly-amplified sound disrupts the wildlife at our refuge, as well as the quiet enjoyment of the park.
Park ambassadors are a must to help balance competing interests at Lakeside Park.
In the 2020 Report of the Promise of Oakland’s Parks, the Justice Potential Park Benefits were identified as Health and Wellness, Community Safety and Connection, Economic and Cultural Vitality, Environment Protection and Climate Resilience, and ABOVE ALL ELSE (98%) Positive Youth Opportunity.
The report underscores need for robust youth educational and recreational programming. Priority must be given to youth programming as well as increased health and wellness activities for Oaklanders of any age. (95%)
Oaklanders also favor visiting parks for social benefits. Page 28 emphasizes this quote: “I would love it if Oakland Parks starting doing family nights at parks. . .BUT NOT A STRESSFUL FESTIVAL ATMOSPHERE”
That is not what we have at Lake Merritt. Weekly commercial vending diverts City resources from youth and family wellness activities. Hours of amplified music in the park interferes with religious services and drives away park users looking for regular green space recreation, not a festival. Late-night DJ parties occur several times a week next to the wildlife sanctuary. Oaklanders have told the City again and again that amplified music disrupts sleep and daily activities and is detrimental to their health. Regulated noise must be a priority health consideration in the City’s planning of public plaza and parkland use.
An effective park ambassador program must be implemented to assure equitable use of parks and fulfill the promise of Oakland parks.
Council President Bas recommendation to implement A Park Ambassador Model that Reduces Reliance on Police Resources is necessary to regulate and educate the varied ad hoc or possibly proposed uses of my District's primary park, Lake Merritt, in a safe and healthful manner. This model needs implementation immediately to manage the visitors and vendors wishing to be on the Lake after the July 4th weekend, when funding is exhausted that supported the OPD and city administrator's Lakeshore closure and OBVA El Embarcadero marketplace. I approve of seeing OFD as well as Municipal Parking Enforcement on Lakeshore during this period of resetting the tone at Lake Merritt.
I implore you to not abandon continued efforts to keep Lake Merritt a wildlife refuge nestled within a residential setting.
Wishing you wisdom as you negotiate and design systems that will affect the remainder of my life, as I age in place, in my Oakland neighborhood on Lakeshore Avenue.
Low Income Tenant, since 1976
I support efforts to develop a park ambassador program. Ambassadors must be trained in de-escalation, conflict resolution, & negotiation, know park & municipal rules, and help educate park visitors. Many visitors to Lake Merritt don't know it is a wildlife refuge. Ambassadors must be given enforcement mechanisms to provide effective compliance and deterrence. Citations don’t need to be the first course of action but are necessary tools when other solutions fail to mitigate harmful behaviors. In changing the event’s process at parks, no park should have the level of activity that Lake Merritt has had. Special events should be limited in number & duration. Rules are needed to protect public health such as limits on noise levels. The World Health Organization states noise is an underestimated threat that can cause a number of short- and long-term health problems such as cardiovascular effects, poorer work/school performance, hearing impairment, anxiety, depression & impairment of early childhood development. Neighbors by the Lake are bombarded w/noise for 16-24 hours on weekends reaching levels of 70+ dB inside-well above the WHO safe level of 30dB. Consideration needs to be given to ensure the public’s access & enjoyment of natural resources & recreational opportunities at parks. As a wildlife refuge, Lake Merritt is not an appropriate place for a long-term vending market. Other suitable public spaces should be found & resources given to support the market at the new location
I fully support CM Bas's plan to create a Park Ambassador program at Lake Merritt. The current interventions the were implemented by CM Bas have had a huge positive impact for me any family. As a black homeowner on Lakeshore Ave, the conditions on Lakeshore were unlivable and unsustainable (as reflected in reports from the PRAC sub-committee and statements by CM Bas). The illegal vending, illegal parking, amplified noise, late night parties and drag races/sideshows, create a situation that prevented my family from literally being able to get out of our home, and our infant daughter from receive medications (due to delivery services not being able to make it to our home because of the traffic) and sleeping in her room since the noise would rattle our windows constantly waking her up. Implementing the ambassador program would help reduce reliance on OPD resources and provide and enforcement entity that is partnership with the community and lake visitors while also being able to ensure illegal activities do not reoccur.
I support the pilot Park Ambassador program to help change the tone at the Lake. Ambassadors would go a long way to helping remind park users to pick up their trash, desist from amplified music, and to help control unregulated vending. The Lake can be restored to a park used by all of us and having well trained ambassadors reminding park patrons to be good neighbors is a positive start. Regulating vending via permitting and finding a more suitable location is also important. There isn't the space in the parks around the Lake and traffic management has been unmanageable since unpermitted vending started.