The City of San Diego

M E M O R A N D U M

Per your request I asked the Park and Recreation Department staff to provide the background for permitting large special events within Balboa Park during the Plaza de Panama project construction.

On July 9, 2012 City Council approved the Plaza de Panama project. With the City Council's approval and a time line to complete the construction of the project by December 2014. Staff in the Office of Special Events and Park and Recreation Department met with the members of the Plaza de Panama project design/construction team on numerous occasions to discuss the impacts construction would have on Balboa Park operations, including the daily park visitor as well as the large special events which are held year-round within the park.

Based upon those discussions and input from the Balboa Park institutions (museums and restaurants) who expressed concern the year-long construction would have on their operations and finances as well as the uncertainty of the construction timelines due to the edict the project would be complete by December 2014, it was determined by City staff that during the one-year construction period there would be three categories of outdoor permitting.

Category 1 -Requests for outdoor permits for areas throughout the park and within capacity (non-large special events) These permits would be issued through the normal procedures with the permittee/applicant being required to sign the attached "Disclaimer for All Permits Issued Within Balboa Park." This disclaimer would provide the permit holder the information as to the potential of impacts to their scheduled event, including noise, access disruptions, etc.

Category 2 - Requests for outdoor permits for large/over-capacity permits such as special events for areas outside the core of the park directly in the area of the Plaza de Panama construction. These permits would be reviewed and issued via the normal permitting process, but again the permittee/applicant would be required to sign the "Disclaimer for All Permits Issued Within Balboa Park."

Category 3 - Requests for large/over-capacity permits such as special events which were requested for within the core of the park. These permits would not be reviewed and permitted due to the overall impacts that might occur to the event due to the construction of the Plaza de Panama. Any applicant requesting such a permit, however, would be told that staff would evaluate the permit if the permit were to fall in Category 2 and outside of the core of the park.

Staff issues approximately 150 outdoor permits for Balboa Park each year and typically of those issued, approximately 25% are for Citywide Special Events which would fall within the Category 2 or 3, as outlined above. Since staff began this process in July 2012 staff has worked with event coordinators who would fall within Category 3 - a permit for the core of the park to modify and/or change their requested venue to another venue within the City. Attached is the list of various event modifications based upon those discussions.

To give additional context as to the complexity of permitting a large special event within a construction area the following was provided by the Plaza de Panama construction team on scheduling of events and impacts or concerns on the construction.

• The project's design and construction was always sequenced to limit the impacts on the normal daily operations of the park and their daily visitor with the understanding that large special events would be deferred until after completion of the project.
   
  
• Starting in April 2013, the excavation and shoring process in the Organ Pavilion parking lot will commence and will involve the removal and hauling of approximately 120,000 cubic yards of soil over to the Arizona Street Landfill site. The process is expected to last over two months, is scheduled to occur in the evening hours to avoid impacts to the daytime operations of the park, and will require between 300-350 truck trips per evening in order to achieve the revised schedule driven out of recent litigation. Attempts to facilitate large events within the park during this operation would cause interference to the construction operation, and conversely, the construction operation would create interference with any event staging, setup, and performance.
   
• While it was originally anticipated that the project would have work shifts occurring during both daytime and night time hours from Monday- Friday, the revised construction schedule as a result of the litigation may cause work to be performed on Saturdays as well to achieve the completion date. This schedule would create mutual inference between the large event and the construction project.
   
• Museum operators and other businesses in Balboa Park are already concerned about the financial impact the construction will have on their business. One way the City is attempting to minimize this impact is to try to limit construction to week days only. This would allow parking on weekends for visitors. To tie up limited parking with a large special event would be ill-advised. In addition, many Category 3 events need Friday to set up which would require that construction be shut down on that day as well.

• In addition to the immediate site of the parking structure located at the Organ Pavilion parking lot, contractor staging for all phases of the project will utilize portions of the Federal Lot, Inspiration Lot (for contractor parking), Gold Gulch, and other areas which have been predetermined as dedicated to contractor staging. Many of these contractor staging areas are commonly used for large event staging, parking, medical/safety and police staging/venue locations which will be rendered unavailable due to the approved project logistics.
   
• Although public safety is paramount for the project and protective measures have been provided for Balboa Park general use, attendance associated with large events would create unforeseen safety considerations given the physical constraints of the project construction limits within the park. The project has not anticipated that level of risk based on the assurances that large events would be deferred until after construction.

City staff developed a method in which a majority of the requested outdoor permits would be issued to applicants as well as a process in which staff is available to work with the organizers of special events to offer suggestions and assistance in permitting their large special event in area of Balboa Park outside the construction impacted areas or in some cases to other city venues outside of Balboa Park. I am convinced that staff is being consistent in enforcing these procedures and if the City were to permit one event, I would suspect that other large event organizers who have used the Park in previous years would also demand accommodations.

Jay M. Goldstone
Chief Operating Officer

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Attachments:
1. Disclaimer for Balboa Park Permits
2. Balboa Park Special Event Modification - November, 2012
3. Central Mesa Map