MEETING DATE: December 22, 2008
AGENDA ITEM: Consideration of a Request from Mr. Dan Silberstein, dba
Drink:Eat:Play, to Hold a BBQ Festival in Veterans'
Memorial Park on a Weekend (to be determined) in
September 2009.
ATTACHMENTS
Pages
1. Excerpt of the draft November 6, 2008 Parks, Recreation
1 - 2
and Community Services Commission meeting minutes
2. BBQ Festival proposal from Mr. Dan Silberstein 3- 4Attachment
EXCERPT OF THE MEETING .MMTUTES OF THE
REGULAR MEETING OF THE
PARKS, RECREATION AND
COMMUNITY SERVICES COMMISSION
CITY OF CULVER CITY
CALIFORNIA
Call to Order & Roll Call
November 6, 2008
7:00 P.M.
The meeting of the Parks, Recreation and Community Services
Commission was called to order at 7:06 P.M.
Members Present: Chair Anita Shapiro
Vice Chair Vicki Daly Redholtz
Commissioner Jeffrey Cooper
Commissioner Rick Hudson
Commissioner Marianne Kim
o0o
EXCERPT BEGINS
Item A-4
Consideration of a Recommendation to City Council Regarding
a Request from Mr. Dan Silberstein, dba Drink:Eat:Play, to
Hold a BBQ Festival in Veterans' Memorial Park on a Weekend
(to be determined) in September 2009
Staff provided a report.
Commission and Council discussion included: concerns with
doing the event and Fiesta La Ballona at the same time;
postponing the item until there is a staff report that
provides a recommendation and includes how other cities
handle similar issues; concerns that Mr. Silverstein was
not present at the meeting; whether a fee would be charged
to get into the event; the need for public notification;
creating a policy regarding commercial events; and the fact
that staff is already overburdened.
Moved by Commission Cooper to deny the request. The
discussion continued.
Commissioners agreed that the request should be denied but
differed on the reason for the denial.Parks, Recreation and
Community Services Commission
November 6, 2008
ExcEmpr OF METING MXNUTES
MOVED BY COMMISSIONER COOPER AND SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER
HUDSON TO RECOMMEND THAT THE CITY COUNCIL DENY MR.
SILBERSTEIN'S REQUEST TO RENT AN AREA IN VETERANS' MEMORIAL
PARK TO HOLD A COMMERCIAL OPEN TO THE PUBLIC BBQ FESTIVAL,
INCLUDING THE SALE AND USE OF ALCOHOL, IN SEPTEMBER OF
2009. THE MOTION PASSED ON THE FOLLOWING VOTE:
AYES: Daly Redholtz, Cooper, Hudson, Shapiro
NOES: Kim
Commissioner Kim clarified that she opposed the motion
because there are no procedures in place for commercial
ventures.
MOVED BY VICE CHAIR DALY REDHOLTZ TO RECOMMEND TO THE CITY
COUNCIL THAT IF THEY ARE INTERESTED THEY REFER BACK A
REQUEST FOR THE COMMISSION TO DISCUSS AND RECOMMEND A
POLICY FOR COMMERCIAL EVENTS IN THE PARK. COMMISSIONER
COOPER SECONDED THE MOTION, WHICH PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
o0o
EXCERPT ENDS
2Attachment 2
From: Dan Silberstein [mailto:dsilberstein50@hotmail.com]
Sent: Friday, October 10, 2008 4:43 PM
To: Robinson, Pam; pamela.robinsonalculvercity.org
Subject: Application for usage of Veteran Memorial Park
Pam,
Per our conversation, I'm emailing more information, pictures, video, and in general, a better understanding of
what the event is and how the space will be used.
Pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/15305690PN06/sets/72157607460732986/
Video: http://www.mahalodailv.com/2008/09/16/md209-la-bbo-fest/
website: www.labbqfest.corn
reviews: http://traveliatimes.comidaily-deal-blogiindex.pharoundup-la-bbq-fest--2743/
htto://www.eatdrinkordie.com/blog/postsi3319
http://ibeginz.blogspot.com/2008/09/Ia-bbq-fest.html
htto://laist.com/2008/09/14/check it out la bbq fest.pho
htto://la-oc-foodie.bbgsoot.com/2008/09/soecial-foodventure-71-la-bbq-fest-and.html
Event rentals: The perimeter of the field will have
approximately 40 tents (105(101 and the field
itself, probably the baseball infield, will have about
20-30 tents (vendors). We will also have about 10
grills/smokers (with ash and coal disposal). None
of them will have nearly the affect on the grass
that the carnival of Fiesta La BaIlona had. Lastly,
we will have a stage similar to Fiesta La Baflona
(also seen in the video and pictures). The rest of
the field's exposure is limited to foot traffic and
picnic blankets—we will have very few tables and
umbrellas as we'll encourage people to bring their
own seats. The majority of larger trucks
(refrigerated truck for meat, etc) will be parked on
the basketball courts.
Timeline: Noon to 7pm, Sat and Sunday. Set up on
Friday and strike on Monday. Ideally, the second
or third weekend of September.
Parking: I've already arran ged with Sony to have
attendees park at the Sony parking lots. Should
more parking be necessary, we could hire shuttles
to take people to and from the Trader Joes lot.
Attendance: We anticipate 10,000 attendees over
the two days.
Budget: Per your request, I've attached the budget
from the 2008 LA BBQ Festival.
Cleanup: We will hire a cleanup crew at the end of
each day.
Referrals: The event was hosted at the Santa
Monica Pier parking lot on Sept 13 and 14th. We
had no incidents with the fire marshals or police
department. Here are referrals from the city
should you have any questions:
Clinton Muir
Lieutenant-Operations Executive Officer
Santa Monica Police Department
(310) 458-2280
Oenth
Administrative Staff Assistant
City of Santa Monica
Open Space Management
2600 Ocean Park Blvd.
Santa Monica, CA 90405
Tel: (310) 458-8573, x2 Fax: (310) 396-9609
gwen.smithOsmqov. net
Jim Glew
Fire Marshall
iim.glew@smgov.net
Please let me know if you have any additional
questions. I think this can become a defining
Culver City event that not only attracts attention to
the city, but brings people in. Additionally, we can
donate as much as $5000 to a public non-profit
(i.e., CC libraries).
Regards,
Dan Silberstein
LA BBQ Festival
32008 L.A. Barbeque Festival Budget
ice/truck $ 1,200
fencing $ 3,819
tenting/tables/refrigeration $
1 8,831
security $ 2,240
space $ 12,000
sound/music $ 5,250
printing $ 2,400
shirts $ 4,059
bartenders $ 3,065
stage $ 5,120
p_ublic health permit $ 1,884
forks/plates/napkins $ 1,942
bands $ 7,400
website $ 1,300
promo people $ 185
hotels $ -
water $ 2,144
Staff $ 3,388
cleaning $ 1,000
photographer $ 500
permits $
1,019
meat $ 11,789
police $ 6,900
Southside $ 7,966
bandanas fedex and flight $ 6,234
Ic's fedexicar rental/flights $ 2,420
bathrooms $ 1,842
insurance $ 852
Beer $ 6,000
pit/smokers $ 1 ,494
fire marshals $ 1,692
wood $ 955
wrist bands $ 210
additional supplies $ 3,118
misc $ 1 ,000
TOTAL $ 131,218|1013|
City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
Meeting Date: _12/22/08_ Item Number: _ A-3
AGENDA ITEM: Consideration of a Request from Mr. Dan Silberstein, dba
Drink:Eat:Play, to Hold a BBQ Festival in Veterans’ Memorial Park on a Weekend (to
be determined) in September 2009.
Contact Person/Dept.: Pam Robinson,
Recreation Manager
Phone Number: (310) 253-6632
Fiscal Impact: Yes [] No [X] General Fund: Yes [] No []
Public Hearing: [] Action Item: [X] Attachments: [X]
Public Notification: Master Email Notification List (12/17/08); Postcard mailing to
residents within 500 feet of Veterans’ Memorial Park (12/11/08); Mr. Dan Silberstein of
Drink:Eat:Play (12/17/08).
Department Approval:
Pam Robinson (12/11/08)
City Attorney Approval:
Carol Schwab (by H. Baker) (12/16/08)
Chief Financial Officer Approval:
Jeff Muir (by M. Noller) (12/16/08)
City Manager Approval:
Jerry B. Fulwood (12/17/08)
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends the City Council consider a request from Mr. Dan Silberstein, dba
Drink:Eat:Play, to hold a BBQ Festival in Veterans’ Memorial Park on a weekend (to
be determined) in September 2009.
BACKGROUND:
The Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department currently has policies
and City Council approved fees in place that allow for the rental of City parks. These
policies and fees take into consideration rentals for resident groups and non-resident
groups for events such as private family gatherings and picnics. In addition, there
are provisions that allow parks to be rented to resident, non-resident and non-profit
organizations for sports activities. The Council has also adopted fees for filming in
parks. However, there is no fee category or adopted fee in place for events in City
Parks that are open to the public.
Over the past few years, commercial organizations have periodically approached the
City to rent Veterans’ Memorial Park for open to the public events. These potential
customers have moved on to locations in other cities based on the lack of policies
and/or fees in place in Culver City relating to this type of rental agreement. In
addition, these organizations were aware of the significant amount of time it would
take to establish fees and policies should the City decide they wanted to begin to
rent their parks for open to the public events.
On September 22, 2008, Mr. Dan Silberstein addressed the City Council and
requested authorization to rent Veterans’ Memorial Park for a BBQ Festival in City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
September 2009. City Council requested that staff investigate this request and
come back with a recommendation.
Parks, Recreation and Community Services Commission Recommendations
In order to make a recommendation on this issue to the City Council, on November
6, 2008 the Parks, Recreation and Community Services Commission considered Mr.
Silberstein’s request to rent Veterans’ Memorial Park for a BBQ Festival. During the
discussion, many issues related to this item were considered, including the proposed
date of the event, the potential impact upon the surrounding neighborhood and
staff’s current workload. One prevailing concern expressed by the Commission was
the current lack of a policy and related procedures/fees regarding holding open to
the public events in City parks. As noted in the draft meeting minutes (Attachment
1), after much discussion and thoughtful consideration, the Commission
recommended that Council deny Mr. Silberstein’s request. In addition, the
Commission recommended that Council consider the possibility of developing and
adopting a policy regarding holding open to the public events in Culver City parks. If
Council determines that such a policy should be developed, the Commission
requested that the matter be referred back to the Commission for follow-up and
future recommendation of a draft policy to City Council.
Public Notification
At the November 6, 2008 Commission meeting, there was consensus that the
residents around Veterans’ Memorial Park should be notified when large events at
the Park, such as that requested by Mr. Silberstein, are a topic of consideration.
With this in mind, staff noticed the item at this evening’s meeting by mailing
postcards on December 11, 2008 to 628 residents within a 500 foot radius of
Veterans’ Memorial Park. In addition to the 500 foot radius, the notification area was
extended to the end of the block when feasible. It has been estimated that the cost
of a City postcard mailing (including postage) is $0.50 per postcard. Using this
estimate, the cost to the City for public notification was $314.00 (excluding staff
time).
DISCUSSION:
Mr. Silberstein’s Proposal
Mr. Silberstein is requesting to rent Veterans’ Memorial Park for a BBQ Festival from
12:00 noon to 7:00 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, the second or third weekend in
September 2009. The proposal (Attachment 2) states that the perimeter of the field
will have approximately forty (40) 10’ x 10’ vendor tents and the field itself, probably
the baseball infield, will have about twenty to thirty (20-30) vendor tents. There will
also be about ten (10) grills/smokers (with ash and coal disposal) and a performance
stage similar to the Fiesta stage. It is proposing to park several large refrigerated City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
trucks for meat on the basketball courts. It is expected up to ten-thousand (10,000)
persons will attend over the course of the two days. The set up will take place on
the Friday before the event and the teardown will take place on the Monday after the
event.
As Mr. Silberstein states in his proposal, this event took place on the Santa Monica
Pier in 2008. A copy of the budget for that event is included as a part of the
proposal (Attachment 2).
As a part of the BBQ Festival, Mr. Silberstein is requesting that he be allowed to sell
alcohol. Culver City Municipal Code (CCMC) Section 3.03.025 prohibits the
consumption of alcoholic beverages in public parks, except in conjunction with the
City’s Fiesta La Ballona event upon the issuance of a permit by the City Council.
Staff requests Council direction as to its preference for handling the issue of allowing
alcohol in City Parks with relation to this BBQ Festival and future events of this type.
Other Considerations
Although there are policies in place for the use of the City’s parks for picnics and
sports events, the proposed BBQ Festival is of such a magnitude it would impact a
number of City Departments as well as increase the wear and tear on the turf and
park facilities (particularly, in this case, since the event would take place so soon
after the Fiesta La Ballona).
In addition to the above, the City Council should also consider the potential impacts
of increasing the availability of the City’s public parks for privately organized events.
As mentioned above, currently the only open-to-the-public event held in a City park
is the annual Fiesta La Ballona. Planning for such an event involves significant
allocation of staff resources. While a privately planned event may reduce the
amount of staff time needed compared to the Fiesta, such events will still require the
allocation of staff resources.
In addition to the planning of such events, the City has traditionally limited alcohol-
related events in City Parks exclusively to the Fiesta La Ballona. Events which
involve the sale of alcohol will increase the need for adequate security and oversight
of the event by the Police Department.
FISCAL ANALYSIS:
Should Council approve Mr. Silberstein’s request to rent an area in Veterans’
Memorial Park to hold a commercial open to the public BBQ Festival in September
2009 that includes the sale and use of alcohol, staff will bring a recommendation for
a fee for the event based on (1) the cost to the City and, (2) what the market can
bear for an event of this type. Additional information, such as the estimated amount
of staff time required from PR&CS and other affected departments and the cost of City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
any non-personnel related resources if needed, will also be mentioned to reflect a
more complete financial outlook of how much it will cost the City to assist with this
event.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Excerpt of the draft November 6, 2008 Parks, Recreation and Community
Services Commission meeting minutes
2. BBQ Festival proposal from Mr. Dan Silberstein
MOTIONS:
That the City Council:
1A. (Commission Recommendation) Deny the request to rent an area in
Veterans’ Memorial Park to hold a commercial, open to the public event in
September, 2009 that includes the sale and use of alcohol.
OR
1B, Tentatively approve the request to rent an area in Veterans’ Memorial Park
to hold a commercial, open to the public event in September, 2009 that includes
the sale and use of alcohol subject to the approval of a license agreement to be
presented to the City Council at a future meeting and subject to the approval of
an ordinance amending the CCMC to allow for alcohol in a City park upon the
issuance of a permit by the City Council.
AND
2A. (Commission Recommendation) Direct staff to work with the Parks,
Recreation and Community Services Commission to develop a policy and fee
structure for non-City sponsored open to the public events (both commercial and
non-commercial);
OR
2B. Determine that no policy or fee scheduled changes are necessary related
to open-to-the public events in the City’s parks.