Ordinance Committee is requested to schedule a public hearing to consider the proposal put forward by the City Manager to amend Chapter 12.16, Section 12.16.170 of the Municipal Code, (the “Street Performers Ordinance”)

To the Honorable, the City Council:

I write to provide the City Council with a summary of various actions taken by staff from the Arts Council in concert with staff from the License Commission and the Law Department in connection with the above-referenced Council Orders regarding amendments to the Street Performer Ordinance as well as Arts Council staffing and programming. Council Order Nos. 48 and 52 of September 21, 2015 On September 21, 2015, the Council requested in Order No.

48 that the City Manager "Confer with the Arts Council and appropriate City departments to determine a decibel level that is measured in relation to ambient noise" in relation to Street Performer noise and in Order No.

52 of September 21, 2015, requested that the City Manager "confer with the City Solicitor with the view in mind of reviewing the Street Performers Ordinance and development of a plan wherein the Arts Council and the City work in conjunction with community artists to increase the number of street artists in the City." Attached hereto is a redlined document showing proposed amendments to Chapter 12.16, Section 12.16.170 of the Municipal Code (the "Street Performers Ordinance" or the "Ordinance"), and a clean document reflecting said proposed amendments. which are the result of work done by City staff from the Arts Council, the Law Department, and the License Commission.

The proposed amendments are based on feedback and input from community-based artists, buskers and street performers, Community Arts Advocates, Street Arts and Buskers Advocates, members of the local business community, and City residents.

The proposed amendments to the Ordinance include the following key components: students will pay a reduced permit application fee of $20 (reduced from $40) and the permit application fee will be waived in its entirety for indigent or homeless persons; performing groups consisting entirely of student performers will pay no more than $80 total for performing group permit application fees (reduced from $160 total); performances will be prohibited from interfering with park or special event permits or regular use of playgrounds; synagogues, temples, mosques and other houses of worship have been added to areas where performances are prohibited from taking

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[phone removed] - tty: [phone removed] * www.cambridgema.gov place within 100 feet of when in session (currently the ordinance only prohibits performances within 100 feet of churches while in session, and there is no prohibition to perform within 100 feet of other houses of worship while in session); performers will be prohibited from using prerecorded music, except as backup accompaniment to a live performance, and all prerecorded music shall be turned off when the performer or group is not performing; performers will be prohibited from using public furniture, whether movable or immovable, as part of performance setup or storage area: Quincy Park has been removed as an excluded area, and Central Square "during reconstruction" has been removed as a temporarily excluded area; the Cambridge Fire Department's rule prohibiting the use of fire in public assembly, issued under G.

L. c.

148, § 28 and the Code of Massachusetts Regulations, has been referenced in the Ordinance (although the rule prohibiting use of fire in public assembly in Cambridge existed independent of the Ordinance, it was not previously referenced in the Ordinance); the Cambridge Fire Chief may prohibit a performer or group of performers from performing in a particular location in an emergency (currently, the Ordinance only gives that power to the Police Commissioner and Commissioner of Public Works); and the Arts Council shall have the authority to establish rules and regulations with the approval of the City Manager as may be appropriate or necessary to implement the Street Performers Ordinance (currently, the Ordinance does not give the Arts Council authority to establish rules and regulations).

We believe that these proposed amendments will ultimately make it easier for prospective street performers to obtain permits to busk or otherwise perform in public, by lowering the financial barrier in the case of students by fifty percent, or in the case of indigent and homeless persons, by waiving the permit application fee in its entirety. The Arts Council staff are also working with the Finance Department in order to develop an online application and payment system for permit application fees.

In addition, it is the intention of the Arts Council staff to work with the License Commission staff in order to provide more training to Arts Council staff on measuring noise levels relative to background noise. I therefore request that the attached proposed changes to the Street Performers Ordinance be referred to the Ordinance Committee for review and consideration. Council Order No. 49 of September 21, 2015 Council Order No.

49 of September 21, 2015 requests that the City Manager "determine the feasibility of appropriating additional funding to the Arts Council to allow for the continuation of monitor work in the off-season." The Arts Council has conducted a pilot program of keeping one of three seasonal employees in place to respond to performer inquiries and concerns, manage data entry and updating, and provide advocacy and outreach to artists and performers. I recommend placing this response on file. Council Order No.

50 of September 21.2015 Council Order No.

50 requests that the City Manager "confer with the appropriate City departments to discuss the costs and benefits of adding a Community Arts Coordinator with the view in mind of increasing the numbers of street performers in the City." The Arts Council's FY 2018 General Fund budget will be increased beginning July 1, 2017 to allow for the hiring of a permanent, full-time Community Arts Administrator who will work with the Director of Community Arts and increase the Arts Council's capacity to provide advocacy, outreach, training, and oversight, in order to increase the number and range of artists and performers who street perform on the City's sidewalks, plazas, parks, and other public areas.

I recommend placing this response on file. Council Order No. 51 of September 21, 2015 Council Order No.

51 of September 21, 2015 requests that the City Manager "investigate ways in which to garner business cooperation, along with messaging and training, to make public spaces friendlier and more proactive as it relates to public performances." With increased department capacity as a result of the hiring of a full-time Community Arts Administrator in FY 2018, it will be possible to expand the Arts Council's work in partnering with local business leadership and other members of the City's local business community as well as Cambridge Local First to better understand potential needs and uses for public spaces and what impact that has on local businesses.