LC City Council sets rules for street entertainers
Published 9:35 am Thursday, January 22, 2015
Lake Charles is opening its arms to entertainers and street performers looking to play their music in the downtown area. During Wednesday’s City Council meeting, an ordinance was approved amending the city’s code to establish a vendor permit and associated rules and policies for street performers. The amendment focused on the lakefront downtown development district as well as the lakefront promenade.
Councilman John Ieyoub introduced the concept to the council weeks ago after being approached by representatives from the recently created Quality of Life Task Force. The group consists of dozens of volunteers from across the Lake Area, and a handful attended Wednesday’s meeting. Ieyoub said the group also worked with Lori Marinovich, director of downtown development, to work out some of the more intricate details of the ordinance.
“It was very refreshing to have a young group so excited about the potential of downtown and having the idea to come before the council with this new approach to entertainment,” Ieyoub said. “It’s going to be really cool to see, once this is implemented, some performers entertaining people downtown.”
Marinovich spoke during the meeting and addressed some of the questions posed by the council members. Councilwoman Luvertha August said a number of residents have contacted her, saying they were excited about the ordinance. Those same residents were also curious as to the times they would be allowed to play downtown, she said.
“Essentially, it follows the general noise ordinance, which allows between 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.,” Marinovich said. “We’ve aligned it with existing rules and ordinances that are already in place.”
Marinovich also said the performers would be relegated to specific areas, including the corners of Ryan Street and four areas on the lakefront promenade. The rules and policies in the ordinance also state that the music will have to be acoustic and that performers would not be allowed to plug instruments in, she said.
Councilman Dana Jackson asked about the performers playing music outside of the spots designated within the ordinance. Mayor Randy Roach said the performers would have to go through the process of getting a permit to play in any other location.
Roach admitted that he was looking forward to having some type of procedure in place, encouraging musicians to visit the downtown area. He said that, if needed, the ordinance could be expanded at a later date to approve more locations where performers could play their music.
“I can’t let it pass without at least acknowledging the fact that we have a younger generation of citizens who are interested in their downtown, that want to be a part of their community,” Roach said. “It also illustrates the value of the investment that we have made downtown and why we should continue to do that.”
Roach said he wanted the downtown area to eventually be known throughout the region as a hub for arts and culture.
(MGNonline)