The 2008 Democratic National Convention (the “DNC”) is hereby declared to be an “Extraordinary Event” requiring special efforts to coordinate the permitting and licensing activities of the various departments and agencies of the City.  This declaration is based on the fact that the DNC will be an unusually large-scale event of national and international significance, drawing an extraordinary number of visitors to the city, and is expected to generate a large number of permit applications for activities and events occurring in the downtown area over a limited period of time.  This extraordinary event will require enhanced efforts to coordinate city permitting and licensing procedures.   

Affected Time Period

This declaration applies to events and activities proposed during the period from 12:01 a.m. M.D.T. August 15, 2008 to 11:59 M.D.T. August 31, 2008.

Affected Area

This declaration applies to events and activities in the following defined geographic area of the City, which generally encompasses the downtown area, the Civic Center area, and certain adjacent areas:

Beginning at the southeast corner of 13^th Ave. and N. Grant St.; thence westerly along the south edge of 13^th Ave. and the south edge of E. 13^th Ave. to the southwest corner of E. 13^th Ave. and N. Osage St.; thence northerly along the west edge of N. Osage St. to the southwest corner of W. Colfax Ave. and N. Osage St.; thence westerly along the south edge of W. Colfax Ave. to the westerly edge of the southbound lanes of Interstate 25; thence northerly along the westerly edge of southbound Interstate 25 to the approximate intersection with the east edge of N. Lipan St.; thence southeasterly to the easterly edge of Park Avenue West; thence southerly along the east edge of Park Avenue West to the intersection with the southeasterly edge of Delgany St.; thence southerly to the intersection of the easterly edge of Delgany St. with the southwesterly edge of Park Avenue West and the northeasterly edge of 22^nd St.; thence southeasterly along the northeasterly edge of 22^nd St. to the southeasterly edge of Blake St.; thence northeasterly along the southeasterly edge of Blake St. to the southwesterly edge of Park Avenue West; thence southeasterly along the southwesterly edge of Park Avenue West to the east edge of N. Broadway; thence southerly along the east edge of N. Broadway to the northeasterly edge of 20^th St.; thence southeasterly along the northeasterly edge of 20^th St. to the north edge of E. 20^th Ave.; thence easterly along the north edge of E. 20^th Ave. to the east edge of N. Grant St.; thence southerly along the east edge of N. Grant St. to the Point of Beginning.

Affected Permits and Licenses

This declaration applies to the following types of permits and licenses administered by the City and County of Denver:

• Scheduled events in parks permits administered by the Manager of Parks (§§ 39-61, et seq., D.R.M.C.)
• Permits for assemblies in parks administered by the Manager of Parks (§§ 39-74, et seq.,  D.R.M.C.)
• Parade permits administered by the Manager of Safety (§§ 54-357, et seq., D.R.M.C.)
• Any permit or license administered by the Manager of Public Works for the temporary use, occupancy or closure of public streets or any portion thereof, including permits for the bagging of parking meters and establishment of valet parking zones (Chapter 49, D.R.M.C.), but not including permits for 16^th Street Mall vending the responsibility for which has been delegated to the Downtown Denver Business Improvement District by contract.
• Special events liquor permits administered by the Director of Excise and Licenses (Charter § 2.7.4)
•  Peddler’s licenses administered by the Director of Excise and Licenses (§§ 47-16, et seq., D.R.M.C.)
• Film permits administered by the Office of Cultural Affairs (§ 2-195, D.R.M.C.)
• Any zoning permit for special events (§ 59-85, D.R.M.C.) or temporary uses such as bazaars, carnivals or special events (§ 59-86, D.R.M.C.) administered by the Manager of Planning and Community Development pursuant to the zoning code.
• Any other licenses or permits specifically related to the conduct of a public event or activity in the affected area during the time period of the declared Extraordinary Event.  

Coordination of Permit and License Applications

The Director of the Denver Office of Cultural Affairs (DOCA) is hereby designated to coordinate city licensing and permitting procedures in advance of the Extraordinary Event.  The Director will designate a single point of contact within her agency to advise potential applicants for permits and licenses regarding the requirements of this declaration, and the other applicable regulations and procedures governing the type of permit or license that the applicant is seeking. 

To assist with this coordination effort, potential applicants for permits and licenses will be directed to submit an initial event or permit request form to DOCA prior to submitting the actual application for a permit or license and prior to paying any application fee.  These initial request forms will be used by DOCA and the permit coordinating committee to identify and resolve potentially conflicting requests, including but not limited to determining whether or not a lottery is necessary to resolve any conflicts, as described below. 

DOCA will administer a permit coordinating committee consisting of the Managers of the following departments and agencies, or the Manager’s designee: 

• Department of Public Works
• Department of Parks and Recreation
• Department of Safety
• Denver Police Department
• Denver Fire Department
• Excise and License
• Department of Environmental Health
• Community Planning and Development
• The Mayors Office

The purpose of the committee is to coordinate permit and licensing requests that may involve the functions and the regulatory authority of the various agencies, to avoid conflicts between the various permitted activities, and to assure the fair, equitable, and transparent distribution of permits.  The committee will meet as necessary to support the timely acceptance or denial of permit applications. The committee will also administer the lottery procedure for conflicting permit and licensing applications as described below.

The ultimate discretion to approve or deny any application will remain with the department or agency that is vested with the legal authority to approve or deny the permit or license in question.  Except as otherwise provided in this declaration, the processes and standards for issuance of permits and licenses will continue to be governed by the applicable ordinances, rules and regulations of the city.

Heightened Security and Public Safety Considerations

All affected departments and agencies will take into account any extraordinary security, transportation, crowd-control, or other needs caused by the DNC and related events when determining whether or not to grant any permit or license.

Because security planning for the DNC will be ongoing between now and the time of the event, particularly in regard to the area immediately adjacent to the convention site, all permits and licenses will reserve to the city the right to modify or revoke the permit or license if the city deems such modification or revocation necessary in the interest of public safety or security.   

Designated Parade Route; permit and fee waiver

The Manager of Safety will identify at least one designated parade route in the affected area for groups to engage in speech and expressive activities through the use of marches, processions or parades, with the route terminating within sight and sound of the convention site.  No parade permit application, permit fee or other payment of costs will be required for use of the designated parade route regardless of whether or not the parade route utilizes and requires the closure of city streets.  However, groups desiring to utilize the parade route will be directed to submit a request form to DOCA and the permit coordinating committee in order to avoid or resolve timing conflicts between various groups desiring to use the route.    

Lottery Procedure

The lottery procedure set forth herein shall apply to the following only:

•  Scheduled events in parks permits administered by the Manager of Parks (§§ 39-61, et seq., D.R.M.C.)
• Permits for assemblies in parks administered by the Manager of Parks (§§ 39-74, et seq.,  D.R.M.C.)
• Requests for use of the designated parade route described above.

When more than one event or permit request form has been submitted to DOCA during the application periods specified below for the same date, time and location, DOCA and the permit coordinating committee will conduct a blind lottery between and among the competing requests in order to determine which of competing requests will be granted priority for issuance of a permit: 

1. DOCA will coordinate the creation of a matrix of available permit locations for parks events and assemblies during the time period of the Extraordinary Event.
   
2. Request forms for park permits and for use of the designated parade route during the time period of the Extraordinary Event shall not be received before March 3, 2008.  Each request received between Monday, March 3, 2008 and Friday, March 14, 2008 will be randomly assigned a lottery number. 
   
3. For parks permits, a lottery shall be held for any conflicting requests on or about Monday, March 17, 2008.   A requestor’s number will be randomly selected and one requestor will receive priority to apply for issuance of a permit for a specific location and time. Unsuccessful requestors may request other locations or times not previously permitted.  If the requestor who has received priority fails, within ten business days of receiving notice by the city, to submit an application for the permit and pay any applicable fee, the requestor will be deemed to have vacated their request and will lose their priority.
   
4. For requests to utilize the designated parade route, a lottery shall be held for any conflicting requests as soon as the designated parade route is determined by the Manager of Safety.   A requestor’s number will be randomly selected and one requestor will receive priority to utilize the route for a specific time. Unsuccessful requestors may request other times not previously taken. 
   
5. The Denver Office of Cultural Affairs will create a waiting list for requestors who wish to be notified if some of the selected slots are vacated by the lottery winner.  If vacancies occur, they will be allocated to those requestors who have signed up for the waiting list in order of preference based on their first round lottery number.
   
6. Permits ultimately issued to applicants who have received priority through this lottery process will be non-transferable.