City of Los Angeles to Implement `Time, Place, Manner' Regulations on Solicitation at Los Angeles International Airport.

News Editors & Business Editors

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 13, 2002

Airport officials will implement and enforce Monday (Dec. 16) the new Los Angeles City ordinance regulating the "time, place and manner" in which people can solicit and immediately receive funds at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). The ordinance was approved by the City Council and signed into law by Mayor James K. Hahn on Nov. 5.

Under the new ordinance, solicitors must apply for a permit from airport officials to conduct their solicitation activities from designated areas located in each of the airport's nine passenger terminals. The ordinance does not restrict other forms of communication, such as speaking with travelers about any subject or distributing literature, so long as funds are not solicited and immediately received.

The use of the designated areas will be equitably allocated on a first-come, first-served basis following airport officials' review and approval of written applications. Under the ordinance the free permits are issued for 30-day periods and are valid only for dates, times, terminal locations and for the number of solicitors granted by the permit. The permits can be extended upon application to cover permit time periods not to exceed six months.

Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) Airfield Permits Section will issue and administer the permits, and Los Angeles Airport Police will enforce the regulations.

The ordinance requires the organization to provide a description and purpose of its proposed activities, contact information about the soliciting organization, and copies of its current City of Los Angeles Information Card issued by the Los Angeles Police Department's Social Services Commission and tax-exempt status under state and federal law. The ordinance is modeled after a long-established policy used at San Francisco International Airport that restricts solicitors to designated booths.

This "time, place and manner" ordinance is an interim measure while the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office continues its appeal of an August 2, 2001, federal court decision. That decision prevents the implementation and enforcement of a 1997 City ordinance barring charitable, religious or political organizations from soliciting and receiving funds at most locations at LAX. That court decision raised the possibility for the airport to adopt a new ordinance to restrict the "time, place and manner" in which persons can solicit and receive funds in LAX terminals provided the restrictions are narrowly tailored and serve a reasonable purpose. Airport officials believe this ordinance follows the federal court's guidance regarding "time, place and manner."

To obtain a permit application and additional program information, please contact LAWA Airfield Permits at 310/215-5464 or write to Airfield Permits Unit, Los Angeles World Airports, P.O. Box 92216, Los Angeles, CA 90009-2216.