WHEREAS, the City of Paterson has a continuous duty to protect the health, safety and welfare of its citizens, while promoting the City for any positive commercial ventures that may occur as a result of companies wanting to use its streets property or backgdrop for filming purposes.
NOW THEREFORE BE IT ORDAINED BY THE MUNICIPAL COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PATERSON AS FOLLOWS:
DEFINITIONS
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
FILMING – The taking of still or motion pictures either on fil mor video tape or similar recording medium, for commercial purposes intended for viewing on television or in theatres. The provisions of this chapter shall not be deemed to include the “filming” of news stories by recognized news gathering programs and organizations.
PUBLIC LANDS – Any and every public street, highway, sidewalk, square, public park or playground or any other public place within the City, which is within the juristiction and control of the City of Paterson.
PERMIT REQUIRED
A. No person or organization shall film or permit filming on public lands within the City of Paterson without first having made an application for a permit to the Department of Community Development, Office of Special Events, which permit shall set forth the approved location of such filming and the approved duration of such filming by specific reference to day or dates. No permit shall authorize filming for more than seven (7) consecutive days in any one location. If filming exceeds seven (7) days, an application for an extension of the permit must be made to the Office of Special Events. Said permit must be readily available for inspection by City officials at all times at the site of the filming.
B. All permits shall be applied for and obtained from the Office of Special Events during normal business hours. Applications for such permits shall be in a form approved by the Law Department and be accompanied by a permit fee in the amount established by this chapter in Section VI herein. The permit fee and the application received from the applicant shall immediately be forwarded by the Special Events Director to the City Clerk along with a desscription of the film, proposed film rating, rate status, etc.
C. The City clerk will then submit the application for approval of the permit to the City Council in the same manner as loudspeaker permits are submitted to the City council.
D. The permit when issued shall include alternate dates in the event filming does not in fact take place on the dates specified due to inclement weather or other good cause.
ISSUANCE OF PERMITS
A. No permit shall be issued for filming upon public lands unless the applicant shall provide the City with satisfactory proof of the following:
(1) Proof of insurance coverage as follows:
(a) For bodily injury to any one (1) person in the amount of five-hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) and any occurance in the aggregate amount of one million follars ($1,000,000).
(b) For property damage for each occurance in the aggregate amount of three hundred thousand dollars ($300,000).
(2) An agreement, in writing, shall be in a form to be approved by the Law Department, whereby the applicant agrees to indemnify and save harmless the City of Paterson from any and all liability, expense, claim or damages resulting from its use of public lands.
(3) An agreement in writing, should be in a form to be approved by the Law Department, whereby the applicant agrees that the location utilized will be left after filming, in a satisfactory condition, free of debris, rubbish and equipment, and that due observance of all city ordinances, laws and regulations will be follows.
(4) The hiring of qualified security personnel, as recognized by State law.
B. The holder of the permit shall take all reasonable steps to minimize interference with the free passage of pedestrians and traffic over public lands and shall comply with all lawful directives issued by the Paterson Police Department with respect thereto. An emergency lante must be kept open and available to police, fire and other emergency vehicles at all times and there must be sufficient space available for public access at all times.
C. The holder of a permit shall conduct filming in such a manner as to minimize the inconvenience or discomfort to adjoining property owners attributable to such filming and shall, to the extent practicable, abate noise and not park vehicles associated with filming on public streets. The holder shall avoid any interference with previously scheduled activities upon public lands and limit, to the extent possible, any interference with normal public activity on such public lands. Where the applicant’s production activity, by reason of location or otherwise, will directly involve and/or affect any business, merchants or residents, these partis shall be given written notice of the filming prior to the City Council meeting at which the applicant’s permit will be considered by the City council and be informed that objections may be filed with the City Clerk. Said objections will become a part of the applicant’s application and be considered during a review of the same. Proof of service of notification to adjacent owners shall be submitted to the City Clerk within two (2) days of the City Council meeting.
D. The City Council may refuse to issue a permit whenever it determines, on the basis of objective facts and after a review of the application and a report thereon by the Police Department and by other City agencies involved with the proposed filming site, that filming at the location and/or the time set forth in the application would violate any law or ordinance or would unreasonably interfere with the use and enjoyment of adjoining properties, unreasonably impede the free flow of vehicular or pedestrian traffic or otherwise endanger the public’s health, safety or welfare. Further, the City reserves the right to require one (1) or more on-site patrolmen Olin situations where the proposed production may impede the proper flow of traffic, the cost of said patrolmen to be borne by the applicant as a cost of production. Where existing electrical power lines are to be utilized by the production, an on-site licensed electrition is required if the production company does not have a licensed electrition on staff.
E. Copies of the approved permit will be maintained by the City Clerk and the Police and Fire Departments.
F. The applicant shall permit the Fire Prevention Bureau or other City inspectors to inspect the site and the equipment to be used. The applicant shall comply with all safety instructions issued by the Fire Prevention Bureau or other City inspectors.
G. In addition to any other fees or costs mentioned in this Chapter, the applicant shall reimburse the City for
any lost revenue, such as parking meter revenue, repairs to public property or other revenues that the City was prevented from earning because of filming.
H. The applicant must provide sufficient pedestrian access. Local residents, business people and their customers must have access to and from their residences or businesses. If access is denied it will be considered a violation of this Ordinance.
I. The regulation of noise is subject to The Code of Paterson, Chapter 337. The applicant must comply with the said noise ordinance. Music playback must cease by 8:00 p.m.
J. the applicant must keep the location swept and free of debris at all times. All catering, craft service, construction debris and personal trash must be removed from the location each day at wrap and disposed of by private garbage disposal. The applicant may not use Department of Public Works trash cans for production trash.
K. All production crew members cannot block driveways without the express permission of the owner or lessee.
L. All signs that are erected by the applicant msut be removed at the completion of filming.
M. The applicant must provide a written plan providing for an emergency right-of-waya for all vehicles. The plan must be approved by Traffic Division of the Department of Public Works.
FEES
The schedule of fees for the issuance of permits authorized by this Chapter is as follows:
A. Basic Filming Permit: One Hundred Dollars ($100). The basic filming permit fee may be waived by the City Council, if in their judgment the applicant for the permit is filming a public service announcement, educational program, documentary or an activity sponsored by a not-for-profit organization. No waiver of the fee shall be allowed for a “for-profit” company or for a film which does not satisfy the aforementioned criteria.
B. Daily Filming Fee Payable in Addition to the Basic Filming Permit: One Thousand, Five Hundred Dollars ($1500) per day for five (5) or more hours of use of public lands per day or $750.00 per day for less than five (5) hours of public lands use per day. The daily filming fee may be waived by the City Council, if in their judgment the applicant for hte permit is filming a public service announcement, educational program, documentary or an activity in support of a not-for-profit organization.
VIOLATIONS AND PENALTIES
Any person violating this Chapter, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000) per day or by imprisonment in the County Jail for a term not exceeding ninety (90) days, or both. A separate offense shall be deemed committed on each day during or on which a violation occurs or continues.
SECTION VI. All Ordinances or portions of Ordinances inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed to the extent of this inconsistency only.
SECTION VII: If any part of this Ordinance shall be declared to be invalid or inoperative, such part shall be deemed deverable and the invalidity thereof shall not affect the remaining parts of this Ordinance.
SECTION VIII: The City Clerk shall have this Ordinance codified and incorporated in the official copies of the Paterson Code.
SECTION IX: This Ordinance shall take effect upon passage, approval and publication as required by law.
SECTION X: The City Clerk and the Corporation Counsel may change any chapter numbers, article numbers and section numbers if codification of this Ordinance reveals a conflict between those numbers and the existing Code, in order to avoid confusion and possible accidental repealers of existing provisions.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
The purpose of this Ordinance is to regulate filming within the
City of Paterson.