Tempe will be reworking controversial parks ordinance

The city of Tempe will be reworking the most recent version of a special events ordinance that critics say unfairly targets unhoused people and the groups that serve them.

The park ordinance that City Council approved in July, and then rescinded in September, would have required a special permit of varying cost for any event with 30 or more people on public property, including city parks. Community services director Craig Hayton says they are using this version as a starting point to work with the community through public meetings and an online survey.

"With the special event [we want to determine] how we can modernize those elements to bring clarity, simplification and some flexibility, hopefully," he said.

Hayton also said that the special events code currently in placed is due for an update since it went into effect back in 1967.

At a meeting held Wednesday over Zoom, some residents expressed dissatisfaction with the decision to rework the July ordinance instead of creating a new code from scratch.

"The failure to mention mutual aid in the ordinance itself creates a barrier to those service groups," said Tempe resident Bobby Nichols. "There's a bunch of issues with the July ordinance, and trying to go back to that one just puts us back at square one."