Ordinance: 04-04-130

City of Horn Lake Park and Property Regulations and Conduct

Whereas, the City of Horn Lake, pursuant to Section 21-17-5 of the Mississippi Code, is authorized to adopt ordinances with respect to its municipal affairs and property which are not inconsistent with the Mississippi Constitution of 1890, the Mississippi Code of 1972, or any other statute or law of the State of Mississippi; and

Whereas, the City of Horn Lake, pursuant to section 21-19-1, et seq. of the Mississippi Code, is authorized to make regulations to secure the general health of the municipality; and

Whereas, the City of Horn Lake has the duty to protect all citizens utilizing the Parks and other City property and must establish guidelines for the safe operation and use of Park and City facilities; and

Whereas, the Mayor and Board of Aldermen find the following regulations, prohibitions and standards are in the best interest of the citizens of the City of Horn Lake and contribute to the public health, safety and welfare of said citizens.

Therefore, be it ordained by the Mayor and Board of Aldermen of the City of Horn Lake as follows:

Section 1. Short Title

This ordinance may be known and cited as the Conduct and Regulations Ordinance of the City of Horn Lake Parks and Property.

Section 2. Definitions

          The following words and phrases when used in this ordinance shall have the meanings respectively ascribed to them in this section.  Whenever any words and phrases are not defined herein but are defined in the state laws, any such definitions shall be deemed to apply to such words and phrases used herein.

1. “Park” is any area of land designated by the Mayor and Board of Aldermen that is to be used for the purposes of recreation.  Further stated a park includes: a playfield, playground, pool, golf course, recreation center, or any other area or facility devoted to active or passive recreation.

2. “City property” is any area owned or controlled by the City of Horn Lake.

3. “Director” is the person designated by the Mayor and Board of Aldermen to administer the daily operations of designated park lands within the City of Horn Lake.

4. “Person” is any person, firm, partnership, association, corporation, governmental unit, company or organization of any kind.

5. “Police Officer” is a duly appointed and acting Law Enforcement officer of the City of Horn Lake or other governmental unit acting under the authority and provisions of an intergovernmental agreement with the City of Horn Lake.

6. “Vehicle” Shall mean a machine propelled by power other than human power designed to travel along the ground by use of wheels, treads, runners, or slides and transports persons or property or pulls machinery and shall include, without limitation, automobiles, truck trailer, motorcycle, tractor, buggy and wagon.

7. “City” means the City of Horn Lake and any and every place within the corporate limits of the City.

Section 3. Facilities and Property

3.1             Buildings and Other Property

a.     Disfiguration and Removal: No Person shall willfully deface, disfigure, tamper with or displace or remove any buildings, bridges, tables, benches, barricades, fireplaces, grills, water lines, tractors, or any equipment, or other public utilities or parts, whatsoever, either real or personal.

b.     Restrooms and Washrooms: No person shall fail to cooperate in maintaining restrooms and washrooms in a neat and sanitary condition.  No person over the age of four (4) years shall use the restroom and washrooms designated for the opposite sex.

c.     Smoking Restrictions for Park Facilities: Smoking is prohibited in all parks of the City of Horn Lake.

1.     An exception is allowed for persons of legal age who wish to smoke inside their vehicle and no debris is discarded on public property.

d.     Removal of Natural Resources: No unauthorized person shall dig or remove any beach sand, whether submerged or not, or any soil, rock, stones, trees, shrubs, or plants, down timbers, or other materials, or make any excavation by tool, equipment, blasting, or other means.

e.     No person in a park or on City property shall climb any tree or walk, stand, or sit upon monuments, vases, fountains, railing fences, or upon any other property not designated or customarily used for such purpose.

f.      Spray or Disseminating of Toxic Substances: No unauthorized person shall spray or disseminate any toxic substance or fertilizer for pest control or other purpose.

g.     No person shall operate a powered model airplane (either tethered, free flight, or radio controlled) on any park property except at designated places authorized by the Director.

h.     No person shall operate or put into and ride on the waters of any park or City property; a boat, canoe, paddle boat, or any other conveyance used to travel on or used to transport a human on the water except where the Director authorizes such activity.

i.       No person shall ride a skateboard or cause or permit same to roll or coast within any recreational area, parking lot, facility, or on any sidewalk or roadway in a park or on City property except in areas specifically designated for such activity and in accordance with such rules as prescribed and published by the City.

j.      No person shall use park facilities for other than their intended use.

3.2             Encroachments

a.     No unauthorized person shall erect any structure, make any improvement, injure, disturb or alter, park or store any vehicles or place any property of any kind for storage or otherwise, or use any city property as a means of gaining access to or from private property without obtaining written permission from the Director.

3.3             Preservation of wild animals, birds, etc.

a.     No person while on park or City property shall hunt, molest, harm, frighten, kill, trap, chase, tease, shoot, throw missiles, destroy, capture, gig, spear, ensnare, or lure any animal, bird, fish, reptile, or amphibian, crayfish or mussel nor shall any person remove or have in their possession the young of any wild animal or the eggs nest or young of any bird, reptile, amphibian, crayfish, or mussel.

b.     No person shall fish in any body of water, located in any park or on city property, owned by the City of Horn Lake except where designated by the Director and official signs are in place giving notice of the designation.

1.     In the case of special events the Director may issue a permit waiving this prohibition for a specific area and a specific period of time.

2.     When a permit is issued under this section a copy shall be transmitted to the office of the city’s mayor and the chief of police.

c.     No person in a park or on City property shall hunt, trap, or pursue wildlife at any time.

Section 4. Use or possession of firearms and dangerous weapons prohibited

4.1 Carrying or possessing dangerous weapons

a.     No person except duly sworn law enforcement officers shall possess or carry, on their person or in a vehicle, any pistol, switchblade, hunting knife, dagger, metal knuckles, bludgeon, karate sticks, slingshot, or other dangerous weapon while in a park or on City property.

b.     No person shall use, carry or possess, on their person, air rifles, spring guns, bow and arrows, slings, paint ball guns, or other forms of weapons potentially inimical to wildlife and dangerous to human safety, or any instrument that can be loaded with fire blank cartridges, or any kind of trapping device while in a park or on City property. 

Section 5. Sanitation

5.1             Pollution of Waters: No person in a park or on City property shall throw, discharge, or otherwise place or cause to be placed in the waters of any fountain, pound, lake, stream, or other body of water in or adjacent to any park or City owned property or any tributary, stream, storm sewer or drain flowing into such waters, any substance, matter or thing, liquid or solid, which will or may result in the pollution of said waters. 

5.2             No person in a park or on City property shall have brought in or dump, deposit or leave any bottles, broken glass, ashes, paper, boxes, cans, dirt, rubbish, waste, garbage, or refuse or other trash.  No such refuse or trash shall be placed in any waters in or contiguous to any park or City property, or left anywhere on the grounds thereof, but shall be placed in the proper receptacles where they are provided; where receptacles are not provided, all such rubbish or waste shall be carried away from the park or City property by the person responsible for its presence and properly disposed of elsewhere.

5.3             Dispending of Liquids:  No person in a park or on City property shall dispense liquids in glass containers to groups or individuals, but shall use paper cups, which must be provided by the dispensing parties.

Section 6. Traffic

6.1    State Motor Vehicle Laws and City Ordinances

a.     No person in a park or on City property shall fail to comply with all applicable provisions of the State Motor Vehicle Traffic Laws and City of Horn Lake ordinances in regard to equipment and operation of vehicles.

b.     Obey Traffic Signs: No person in a park or on City property shall fail to obey any traffic signs indicating speed, direction, caution, stopping, cross walk lanes, traffic lane markers, and all other signs posted by the director for proper control or safeguarding life and property.

c.     Operation Confined to Roads: No unauthorized person, in a park or on City property, shall drive any vehicle on any area except improved roadways or parking areas, or such other areas as may on occasion be specifically designated as temporary parking areas by the Director.

d.     All Terrain Vehicles (ATV), Motorcycles, Mopeds, Go Carts, or Snowmobile: No person shall operate or have in a park or on City property any ATV, an unlicensed motorcycle or moped, a go cart, or Snowmobile.  All such vehicles shall not be on any part of park or City property unless being transported upon some other conveyance and not in operation.

 

e.     Parking: No unauthorized person shall park a vehicle in other than established or designated parking areas, and such shall be in accordance with the posted directions, markings, or directions of the Director or a Police Officer.

f.      Congesting Park Roadways: No person shall park a vehicle upon a park roadway or entranceway.

g.     Riding outside vehicles: No person in a park or on City property shall ride upon, or hang onto, the fenders or any other outside part of any vehicle.

h.     All Night Parking: No person shall leave or park a vehicle on park property during the time the park is closed.

1.     Any such vehicle in violation of this subsection shall be towed from the park at the owners’ expense.

2.     The Director may authorize by permit overnight parking under other than ordinary circumstances.

3.     When a permit is issued for overnight parking a copy shall be transmitted to the city’s chief of police.

i.       No horses or livestock shall be allowed to be in a park unless authorized for a specific function by the Director.  

6.2     Stopping in Specific Places

a.     No unauthorized person shall stop, stand, or park a vehicle in any of the following places, except when necessary to avoid conflict with other traffic or in compliance with the directions of a Police Officer or authorized attendant or traffic sign or signal:

1.     In an intersection

2.     In a cross walk

3.     Upon a bridge

4.     At any place where the standing of any vehicle will block the use of any driveway, entrance or other through traffic

5.     On any sidewalk

6.     At any place where authorized traffic signs have been erected prohibiting stopping, standing, or parking.

6.3     Operation of Certain Vehicles

a.     No unauthorized person shall enter a park or City property with a passenger vehicle, truck, or any other vehicle carrying building materials, merchandise, or other materials except when delivering such materials or supplies for the use of the Park or City and shall leave immediately upon delivering such materials.

Section 7. Behavior and Regulations

7.1             Fireworks, Explosives, or Rockets

a.     No unauthorized person shall bring or have in his possession or set off or otherwise cause to explode or discharge or burn, any firecrackers, torpedo, or other fireworks or explosives (as notated in City Ordinance #97-01-64) of inflammable materials, or any type of rocket or model rocket, or discharge, launch or throw them into any such areas from land or highway adjacent thereto.  This prohibition includes any substance or compound, mixture, or articles that in conjunction with any other substance or compound would be dangerous from any of the foregoing standpoints in a park or on City property.

7.2             Reservation of Facilities

a        Reservations or park facilities shall be conducted through the Director of parks and recreation.

1.     The Director shall issue a permit to persons, whose application for reserved facilities has been approved, that describes the activities that are allowed for the reserved facilities and the date and time the reservation begins and ends

a.     A copy of the permit shall be transmitted to the city’s chief of police and the office of the city’s mayor at least 3 days prior to the scheduled use.

2.     The Director shall authorize the placement of signs giving notice to all other persons when any pavilion or park structure, property or section thereof has been reserved for use.

b        No unauthorized person shall enter into or remain in any pavilion or park structure, or property or section thereof, which has been reserved and approved by the Director.

 

c        Application:

1.     A person or group seeking issuance of a permit hereunder shall file an application with the Director.  The application shall state:

a.     The name and address of the applicant

b.     The name and address of the person or persons, corporation or association sponsoring the activity, if any

c.     A brief description of the activity for which the facilities will be used.

d.     The beginning and ending date and time for which the reservation is requested.

e.     The part or portion thereof for which such permit is desired.

f.      A signed agreement to abide by rules and regulations as provided by the Director for the facilities being requested and an acknowledgement that any required deposit may be held for damage to the facilities or litter left on the property.

g.     Any other information which the Director shall find reasonably necessary to make a fair determination as to whether a permit for reservation should be issued hereunder.

7.3             Alms, Solicitations and Contributions

a        No person, group, or entity in a park or on City property shall solicit alms or contributions for any purpose whether public or private, unless so authorized by the Director on park properties and by the Mayor and Board of Aldermen for all other City property.

 

b        Applications for permission will be submitted 14 days in advance, in writing, and submitted to the office of the Director for park facilities or the office of the city’s mayor for other city property.

c        A permit shall be issued to any person who is authorized to use facilities under this subsection. The permit will state the beginning and ending date and time for use of the facilities or property. A copy of the permit shall be transmitted to the City’s chief of police.

d        Any person issued a permit for use under this section shall produce it for law enforcement upon request.

7.4             Vending, Peddling, and Advertising

a        No person in a park or on City property shall expose or offer for sale any article or thing, nor shall he/she station or place any stand, cart, or vehicle for the transportation, sale or display of any such article or thing.  Exception is herein made as to any regularly licensed concessionaire or others, acting by and under authority and regulation of the director.

b        No person shall paste, glue, tack, or otherwise post any sign, placard, advertisement, or inscription whatsoever in a park or on City property, nor shall any person erect or cause to be erected any sign whatever on any public lands or highways or roadways adjacent to a park, except when prior authorization in writing is given by the Director on park properties or by the City’s Mayor and Board of Aldermen for all other City property.

c        No person in a park shall announce, advertise, or call the public attention in any way to any article, or service for sale or hire, except when prior authorization, is given in writing, by the Director.  

7.5             Fires and Grills in Park Areas

a        No unauthorized person in a park or on City property shall build or attempt to build a fire, start a grill (gas or charcoal) except in such areas and under such regulations as may be authorized by the Director on park properties.  No person shall drop, throw, or otherwise scatter lighted matches, burning cigarettes or cigars, tobacco paper, charcoal briquette ashes, or other inflammable material, within any park or on City property.

7.6             Closed Areas and Park Opening and Closing times

a        All Parks will be open at 7:00 a.m. and close no later than 10:00 p.m. everyday.

1.     An exception to these hours is granted for Maxey and Memorial parks which shall be accessible to the public 24 hours a day for use of the walking trails.

b        Signs shall be erected at the entranceway of all parks giving notice of operational hours.

c        At such time as the gates at the entranceways of any park are closed and locked the park is to be considered closed to the public.

d        The Director may close any park, or any area or facility of any park for maintenance of facilities or when any condition presents a hazard to the public.

1.     When any park or any area thereof is closed to the public, signs shall be placed giving notice to the public that such areas have been closed.

e        No unauthorized person shall enter any area posted as “Closed to the Public,” nor shall any person use or abet the use of any area in violation of posted notices.

f         No unauthorized person shall enter upon any park property when it is closed for public use.

1.     Violations of this subsection shall be deemed trespassing.

g        The director may authorize, by permit, activities on park property outside of normal operational hours.

1.     When a permit is issued under this section a copy shall be transmitted to the office of the city’s mayor and the chief of police.

7.7             Indecent, Lewd, or Obscene Conduct

a        No person shall perform any of the following acts in a park or on City property.

1.     An act of sexual intercourse; or

2.     An act of deviate sexual conduct; or

3.     A lewd exposure of the body or any of its parts with the intent to shock another person or the intent to arouse or satisfy the sexual desires of any person; or

4.     A lewd touching, foundling or caressing of the body of another of either sex.

b        No person shall commit an “obscenity” nor solicit a sexual act from another. 

7.8             Other prohibited acts

a        Games of Chance: No person in a park or on City property shall gamble or participate in or abet any game of chance, except for raffles with written permission from the Director.

b        Going onto Ice: No person in a park or on City property shall go onto the ice on any of the waters.

c        Loitering and Boisterousness: No person in a park or other City property shall engage in loud, boisterous, threatening, abusive, insulting, or indecent language, or engage in any disorderly conduct or behavior tending to threaten a breach of the public peace.

d        Entering Waters: No person in a park or on City property shall, unless specifically authorized by the Director to do so as part of maintenance or construction function, enter the waters of any fountain, pond, lake, stream or other body of water (whether natural or artificial, temporary or permanent), except for designated swimming or wading pools and must be in accordance with the specific operating regulations thereof relating to the hours of operation, the conduct, dress, etc., of that facility.

e        Enticing another to commit offense: No person shall knowingly entice or induce another person to violate any of the provisions of this ordinance.

f         No person shall disobey any sign giving notice of any rule or regulation or any specified safety equipment to be worn during any specific activity in any park.

Section 8. Exceptions to prohibited acts

Nothing in this ordinance shall be construed to prohibit any city employee or official thereof, in the performance of official duties, from engaging in activity for maintenance purposes or responding to emergency situations on park or City properties.

Section 9. Reservation, Registration and other fees

The Board of Aldermen shall approve, as regularly as deemed necessary, a schedule of usage fees, to include but not limited to, reservation of facilities, tournaments, registration fees for sports activities, use of equipment and the like.

Section 10. Enforcement of provisions

10.1     Each department or division of services of the City of Horn Lake has a duty to enforce the provisions of this ordinance within the scope of their duties of employment.

10.2     The Director is authorized to suspend any person from using park facilities for violations of the rules or regulations. Any suspension shall be an administrative matter and may be in addition to any criminal liability.

a        Any person suspended from using park facilities shall be advised in writing. The suspension notice shall state which park the person is suspended from.

1.     When any person is suspended from using park facilities a copy of the suspension form shall be transmitted to the office of the City’s mayor and the chief of police.

Section 11. Penalties

Any person convicted of a violation of any provision of this ordinance, shall be fined not less than $25.00 or more than $1,000.00 and/or sentenced to more than 6 months in jail.

Section 12. Severability

If any provision of this ordinance is ruled illegal, unconstitutional or otherwise unenforceable by a court of competent jurisdiction, the remaining provisions shall continue in full force and effect.

Section 13. Conflict of provisions

If any provision herein is deemed to conflict with any other provision of an ordinance of the City of Horn Lake, the more restrictive provision shall control.

Section 14. Effective Date

For the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, and safety and for those reasons as set forth in the preamble above, this ordinance shall become effective immediately from and after its passage by a unanimous vote of all members of the governing body.

    This ordinance became effective immediately on April 13, 2004 upon a unanimous vote by all members of the board of aldermen.