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Hula-Hoops among latest no-nos
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DUANE PROKOP/LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Members of Youth with a Mission offer free prayers July 20 at the Fremont Street Experience. An ordinance would not ban such actions under the canopy but would allow entertainment or sales only in a free speech zone. » Buy this photo
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MIKE JOHNSON/LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL Mike Johnson/LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL » Buy this photo
Updated: Aug. 4, 2010 | 7:24 a.m.
If Las Vegas approves a pending ordinance that is on its way to the City Council, there will be no Hula-Hooping allowed at the Fremont Street Experience.
That's one of the provisions in the proposed new law intended to regulate activities such as street entertainment and solicitation, or people seeking money.
What it might actually do, though, is once again land the city in court over free speech issues.
The ordinance, which was forwarded out of a council subcommittee Tuesday, would establish two "free expression zones" on the Third Street Promenade, which abuts the downtown pedestrian mall.
Street entertainers and anyone who is soliciting would be confined to those zones.
There also would be bans on using an amplifier or megaphone, shooting projectiles into the air and, yes, Hula-Hoops.
Activity at the Fremont Street Experience has been largely unregulated since a little over a year ago, when a federal court struck down the city's last set of regulations as unconstitutional.
That has led to a host of problems, said City Attorney Brad Jerbic and Fremont Street Experience President Jeff Victor.
They said demonstrators have blocked portions of the mall with displays and people holding signs, then drove patrons away by shouting over megaphones.
And street performers unaffiliated with the Fremont Street Experience have blocked off areas for their shows, which draw crowds that impede the flow of pedestrian traffic.
Jerbic also referenced a YouTube video in which a man dressed as KISS frontman Gene Simmons uses some kind of a stun device on a visitor, although the footage -- set to Michael Jackson' "Thriller" -- isn't clear on why the dispute started.
The Hula-Hoop ban was included because someone started renting them to visitors at the Fremont Street Experience. Some of the Hula-Hoops were large, and people using them created obstacles for other visitors, Jerbic said.
Visitors and retailers, particularly those who operate the 38 kiosks scattered about the mall, are complaining, said Victor, who is worried that visitation will suffer if rules aren't implemented.
That matters to the city because a special room tax helps pay back the bonds for the Fremont Street Experience's construction, Jerbic said.
If people stop coming or if rates drop because of low visitation, those costs eventually will be borne by the city, he said.
"This wasn't built to be a soapbox," he said of the pedestrian mall. "This was built as a place for people to come see the light show every night," as well as see concerts, eat, drink, shop and visit casinos.
"These are all disrupted and hampered without regulation on the mall," Jerbic said.
If the city passes the ordinance, the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada most likely will sue on constitutional grounds, said Maggie McLetchie, an ACLU staff attorney.
Blocking traffic and aggressive soliciting already are illegal, she said.
Furthermore, the city would be discriminating between types of speech, since entertainers hired by the Fremont Street Experience would be allowed in the mall, while all others would be shunted to zones next to it. She said those zones are so small that "this is almost a total ban."
As proposed, the zones are 12 feet wide by 100 feet long.
"I disagree with the underlying idea that you can't comply with the Constitution and make money," McLetchie said.
Arguing that speech interferes with commerce "does not justify unconstitutional restrictions," she said.
McLetchie urged Councilmen Stavros Anthony and Ricki Barlow to delay any action on the bill, noting that previous ordinances have been litigated for years and that the ACLU has collected more than $250,000 in attorney's fees.
The Fremont Street Experience, not the city, has picked up that tab.
"This case, in some iteration, has been litigated for a decade and a half," McLetchie said. "We've been around the block so many times."
The ordinance leaves some areas alone. Leafleting, for example, was originally going to be placed in the expression zones, but Jerbic said he couldn't make a strong enough case that passing out fliers or cards created problems.
Someone simply holding up a sign also would not be affected by the ordinance, unless the person blocked pedestrians or otherwise was interfering.
Anthony said it was clear to him that some rules are needed.
"If you don't regulate that, it's going to be mass chaos down there," he said.
Contact reporter Alan Choate at achoate@reviewjournal.com or 702-229-6435.
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I was there in Las Vegas when this "Freemont Street Experience" was pushed through by Jan Jones.. the promises were that there would be "business galore" for the casinos and that would "help out the tax base" for the county and city.
The first thing that the "Management Board of the Experience" did was to prohibit locals from attending functions such as New Year's eve... the guests of the hotels could go FREE... but the taxpayers had to pay~!
Result? The locals that used to go downtown to play.... stopped going downtown. And the fabulous "Experience" started going down hill.....
.... The taxpayers have been taking it in the shorts every since this boon doggle was initiated.
...... I would say "sell it" to the casinos who want so much to dictate what will be and what they don't want... BUT they have to pay the taxpayers back all the money they have paid out to finance this mess... Plus reasonable interest on their "worthless investment"...
And the casinos can "sue" Jan Jones.. this was HER baby.
All I can say is I don't want to be in a town that says "porn yes, hula hoops no!
can't we have both someone needs to think of the children!
Hey, it doesn't matter whose side you are on in this matter, the issues have been litigated for over a decade and the City and Fremont Street LOST in court. Enough already!!! The only people making money on this are the attorneys!!! Give it up will ya???
What a crock ! Anyone who can entertain deserves some space. Maybe we can get all the homeless in town with hula hoops to protest. That may just be an accurate reflection of the way things are going in Vegas, baby. All the homeowners being forced out of their homes due to unemployment, bankruptcy, etc....add in everyone who needs to make some sort of money in order to provide for themselves and/or their families....we could have a real show !
And how much has the City of Las Vegas spent losing lawsuits re: Fremont Street so far?
UNREGULATED? DOES ANYBODY BELIEVE THAT?
REGULATORS AND REVENUERS ARE EVERYWHERE!
FIRE THE REGULATORS AND THE REVENUERS AND WE WILL ALL BE BETTER OFF!!! DUMB LAWS COME FROM DUMB LAWMAKERS!!!
Two important things to always remember:
When hula hoops are outlawed, only outlaws will have hula hoops.
Hula hoops don't create obstacles, people with hula hoops create obstacles.
And one question: Who gives a damn who Kiss' front man is?
Good point, curious. All I can say is I don't want to be in a town that says "porn yes, hula hoops no!" when Jesus comes back.
Fremont Street is a CITY PARK. Ii have never seen a City Park operated like this - not for the benefit of the people of the city. It is operated for the casinos with the people paying for it.
A ban on Hula-Hoops? Yep they are bad . .but go ahead and give out cards with pictures of scantily clad women. Thats okay!! What a joke, the LV City Council HAS to have somethign better to worry about, don't they?