By Jorge Casuso
July 24, 2009 – Fearing a court decision in Seattle could reap discord in Santa Monica, street performers on the Third Street Promenade are banding together to defend a local ordinance that requires a City permit to perform on the popular walk street.
More than 60 performers have signed a petition showing “strong and unwavering support” for the 12-year-old ordinance, which could be tested after a U.S. appellate court last month ruled that a Seattle law regulating street performers violates the First Amendment.
The petition was circulated after two dozens performers held an impromptu meeting Saturday and agreed that the Seattle law could reap chaos on Santa Monica’s carefully orchestrated rules governing street performers on the Promenade, the Pier and the Downtown Transit Mall.
“The consequences of not needing a permit could be devastating,” said Steven Bradford, the Bayside District’s venue manager, who is in charge of monitoring street performers Downtown. “Everything we do here is based on the fact that you have to have a permit.”
Santa Monica police have stopped enforcing the provision in the local law that requires performers to obtain a $37 permit renewable each year. Although more than 500 permits have been issued this year, only about 50 performers are regulars on the Promenade, officials said.
Bradford fears performers without a permit won’t know the rules that have helped make the Promenade a venue that draws performers from other countries to display their talents before the estimated 10 million visitors who flock to the strip each year.
In addition to requiring a permit, the law regulates the volume of a performance and makes sure performers move every two hours at least 120 feet and are no closer than 40 feet from another performer and ten feet from store doorways and vending carts.
Although the Seattle ruling does not affect those restrictions, Bayside officials and performers fear it will be difficult to maintain order if anyone can simply claim a spot and start to play.
With a permit, says performer Rade Zone, “I have at least a little bit of control.”
One of the fortunetellers on the strip forecasts trouble if the City is forced to drop its permit requirement.
“Being a psychic, I can tell you it’s not going to be a good thing,” she said.
The June 24 Seattle ruling, which could be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, struck down a seven-year-old law that required permits and restricted activity to designated spaces in the Seattle Center, an 80-acre park and entertainment complex.
The law was challenged by a balloon artist who argued it violated his rights to free speech. Berger won the case in U.S. District Court in 2005, but the City of Seattle appealed the decision.
While there are significant differences between the Seattle and Santa Monica laws and the locations they govern, the permit provision applies to both cases, City officials have said.
Local performers think the permit provision is worth fighting for.
Requiring a permit, the petition says, “promotes community and cohesion” in “the world’s beast street performance venue.”
