Council May Revise Law to Collect on Commercial Events

A proposed revision of San Diego’s 11-month-old Special Events Ordinance would enable the city to recover costs and even share in the profits from commercial events held on public land.

If approved by the City Council’s Public Services and Safety Committee on Wednesday, the revised ordinance would require organizers of for-profit events, such as the Coors Lite Biathlon and the annual Michelob Street Scene, to pay for such essential city services as traffic control, police, street closures and cleanup.

It would also authorize the city manager to negotiate for a percentage of event profits and stipulate that the city receive additional revenues from events that use the city’s name or logo in their advertising.

Local nonprofit groups would continue to receive up to $3,000 in free city services per event, but additional costs would be borne by the organizers.

“What it all comes down to is supply and demand,” said Peg Nugent, the city’s special events coordinator. “We have a limited supply of services, and what we have been facing, and are facing, is a constantly increasing demand for these services by event promoters.

“Historically, we have provided these services free of charge for special events by local nonprofit organizations. But we are now seeing the availability of these services dwindling because of an escalating demand by for-profit groups.”

Nugent said the proposed ordinance revisions are designed to reinvigorate the supply of services by recovering the bulk of their costs. She added that taxpayers--in effect, partners in the special events--should not only recover their money, but share in event profits.

“We believe the taxpayers should not be supporting private industry,” she said. “If the taxpayers are going to pay for the services associated with a for-profit event, they must not only recover their costs, but receive a return on their investment.”

Nugent said that worldwide publicity surrounding the Super Bowl and the America’s Cup races this year has stimulated requests for major international events in San Diego, including a French bicentennial bike race and a Singapore festival.

“So we’re not only looking at more events, but bigger events that would have a dramatic impact on city services,” Nugent said.

If passed, the ordinance revision would also:

* Require event organizers to come up with an emergency medical services plan beyond normal paramedic services provided by the city.

* Require a 30-day interval between similar events.

*- Give the city the option of requiring off-site parking and shuttle service if the event would have “substantial adverse impacts” on general parking and traffic circulation in the vicinity.

* Deny exclusive use of any beach or park area between Memorial Day and Labor Day that would deny or seriously affect public access.

The city manager’s office has recommended approval of the revisions, as has the city’s Advisory Panel on City Revenue-Producing Events.

Nugent said that out of the approximately 150 special events held in the city each year, “only a dozen or so would be affected” because the vast majority are nonprofit events costing the city less than $3,000 in services.

Jack Damson, director of the San Diego Chapter of the American Lung Assn., said he believes the ordinance revision is unfair to those nonprofit event organizations whose events do cost more than $3,000, as the association’s annual America’s Finest City Half-Marathon does.

“The way the ordinance is written, there’s no limit to the number of events a nonprofit group can stage each year, and that puts us at a decided disadvantage,” Damson said. “The half-marathon is the only event we do, and the costs may well exceed the $3,000 limit. Let’s say the costs are $4,000. That would mean we would have to pay the city $1,000.

“But some other nonprofit group could put on a half-dozen events, each costing $2,000, without having to pay the city anything--even though their total costs for the year would be $12,000 to our $4,000.”

Damson said he’s also concerned about letting the city share in the profits of commercial events.

“What would happen if a commercial event comes into conflict with a nonprofit event?” he said. “If I were them, I’d choose the event that might bring some money into the city coffers, even if it means muscling out a nonprofit event that’s been held on the same date, in the same location, for years.”

Rob Hagey, who produces the annual Michelob Street Scene in the Gaslamp Quarter downtown, criticizes the proposed ordinance revision for its “extremely vague wording.” He said he would like to know exactly how much he will have to pay the city in advance, so he can budget his production costs accordingly.

Compounding Hagey’s frustration is the fact that while the Michelob Street Scene is officially a for-profit event, most of the profits, if any, are subsequently turned over to the nonprofit San Diego Jazz Festival.

“I can’t see how the city can pass this thing,” he said, “when there’s still so much that is unclear, so much that needs to be defined.”