June 2023 - Parks & Recreation - 29

not meet the strict scrutiny test. "
Accordingly, the federal district court granted
Plaintiffs' motion for a preliminary injunction,
enjoining Defendants from enforcing the Section
7.03(h) park permit requirement for religious events.
Permit for Sound Amplification
The federal district court then considered whether
Section 7.03(m) was content based or content neutral.
On its face, the court found Section 7.03(m)
was " content neutral " because this permit regulation
" does not distinguish between the content of the
message, but instead applies generally and requires a
permit for any event that uses sound amplification. "
That being said, the court recognized " this subsection
must be narrowly tailored to advance significant
governmental interests to pass constitutional muster. "
The court further noted: " A narrowly tailored
requirement need not be the least restrictive means
of furthering the government's interests, but the restriction
may not burden substantially more speech
than necessary to further the interests. "
In this particular instance, the Defendants had
argued " the challenged subsection serves the significant
governmental interest of reducing noise
and other inconveniences to park users and nearby
guests. " The federal district court agreed, noting
general agreement that " the government has a significant
interest in regulating public places. " In so
doing, the court noted " the Supreme Court has recognized
the propriety of a government entity in regulating
competing uses of public property " :
With respect to the government's interest of regulating
public places, without the permitting requirements
the government is unable to regulate public
places effectively and efficiently. This inability to effectively
regulate public places is likely to lead to an
increase in disorderly conduct and issues around use
of competing spaces.
While Plaintiffs had conceded the government's
general interest in regulating public spaces, the federal
district court found Plaintiffs constitutional challenge
to Section 7.03(m) had completely ignored the government's
" significant interest of reducing noise and inconveniences
to park users " :
The city enjoys a substantial interest in ensuring
the ability of its citizens to enjoy whatever benefits
the city parks have to offer from amplified music to silent
meditation. There are good reasons for regulating
sound amplifying devices; these devices can produce
noise that is unpleasant and, certainly, unrestrained
use throughout a municipality of all sound amplifying
devices would be intolerable.
The federal district court further noted: " Sections
7.03(m) only applies to sound amplification used in
public parks, not entirely throughout the city. "
Legitimate Park
Permit Fees
Plaintiffs also had argued " the permitting requirements
of Section 7.03 is not narrowly tailored because the
process of seeking and obtaining a permit is burdensome. "
In so doing, Plaintiffs claimed: " Section 7.03's
requirement of insurance coverage of [$2 million], a
$250 refundable deposit, and other requirements render
the permit scheme burdensome. "
In some circumstances, the federal district court
found " a city may both require a permit for activity
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PARK S ANDRECRE AT ION . OR G | JUNE 2 0 2 3
| Parks & Recreation
29
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June 2023 - Parks & Recreation

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