2022-45 Ordinance Amending City Code of the City of Decatur, Illinois by the Addition of Chapter 41.3 - Downtown Parks

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December 1, 2022 TO: Mayor Julie Moore Wolfe&Decatur City Council Members FROM: Scot Wrighton,City Manage RE: Proposed Use of Downtown City Parks Ordinance Presented for consideration is an ordinance adopting new regulations and inserting them into the City Code concerning Decatur's two downtown city parks. In recent months, both Central Park and Preston Jackson Park have experienced vandalism, defacement, dumping of trash and debris,and other problems.This adds to the clean-up and maintenance responsibilities of the Public Works Department on a daily basis. Most of these problems occur in the evenings and overnight when there are fewer people downtown and when it is dark, and hard to see illegal behaviors—but it has been known to occur in broad daylight as well.The abuse of city property is already illegal, but police officers are usually not at the parks at the very moment when all violations occur,to see them and deal appropriately with perpetrators. For this reason,it is recommended that these two parks be closed between 10:00 pm and 6:00 am (as are most public open space properties owned by the Decatur Park District) unless there is a pre-approved evening event at one or both of the city's parks. The attached ordinance language includes the closure provision along with new language to limit bicycles,skateboards and scooters on park sidewalks; prohibit bathing in the fountain;and prohibiting the building or erecting of structures in the parks, unless it is part of a pre-approved event.The proposed ordinance could be amended by deleting Section 1.8.which contains the closure hours. Eliminating the closing hours is not recommended;but if it was deleted,this would require that the city have a greater enforcement presence in and near the parks to react to infractions of local ordinances. By simply closing the parks after 10:00 pm, law enforcement officers do not have to "catch someone in the actf they simply have to make sure no one is staying in the park during the restricted hours.This will require some additional patrols by the police department—which will be performed—though the downtown area is regularly patrolled by the police now.As police staffing improves in 2023(which is anticipated)we will arrange for additional patrols to effectively manage enforcement of the ordinance. The proposed ordinance does not include language concerning a person's obligation to pick-up animal waste in the park, prohibiting drug sales,outlawing soliciting for sex,or any number of other crimes that are already illegal throughout the city of Decatur, including in the parks,and therefore do not need to be restated in this ordinance.The proposed ordinance deals only with topics unique to the park and for which park-specific enforceable language is desired. Nor does the proposed ordinance include language asking dog owners to use bags provided by the city to collect and dispose of animal waste, or explaining that personal belongings left unattended in a