COSTA MESA : Park Photo Sessions Will Be Restricted

The City Council has given final approval to an ordinance designed to crack down on photographers who want to use city parks for photo sessions.

Known as “Photo Days,” one of the sessions held last November in Charles TeWinkle Memorial Park created a neighborhood uproar when hundreds of male photographers showed up at the park to take pictures of bikini-clad women. Residents complained that the event was not suitable for neighborhood parks frequented by children.

In response to the outcry, the council last month gave initial approval to the ordinance and also adopted a new policy which, although it puts tighter controls on photo days, does not entirely ban them. It was formally adopted last week.

The policy allows the city’s community services director to deny a permit if problems occur. Operators of photo days may also be required to hire security for the events.

Yolanda Davila, who has led the crusade to stop photo days, expressed concern that the new restrictions don’t go far enough.

“I am afraid for my children,” said Davila, who along with several other neighbors have spoken out against the photo sessions during the last few months. At one council meeting, Davila displayed her own photographs to show what happens during a typical shoot.

However, City Atty. Thomas Kathe has said that photo days cannot be banned outright because they are considered free speech and protected under the Constitution.

The city has issued quarterly permits since 1988 to San Diego-based Glamour Photographers International, which arranged the photo sessions. Operators say the pictures are for the models’ portfolios and emphasize that males, females and families often pose. They have held other photo sessions at parks in Orange and Fullerton and at Cypress College.

The new law will go into effect next month.