Local street performers will no longer be allowed to entertain tourists visiting Santa Monica’s Third Street Promenade, Pier and Transit Mall during peak afternoon and evening shopping hours, beginning this week.
The prohibition was announced Monday in the city’s Twenty-Seventh Supplement, which contains provisions that seek to limit the live audiences who often gather to watch the local performers play instruments, sing or dance in the popular shopping areas.
“As a result, street performers will not be allowed in those spaces during their most crowded times, after 12 p.m. Monday through Friday and on weekends and holidays,” the supplement states as it details how the city will suspend the issuance of any performance permit through the end of the year. Performance permits that have already been issued shall also be suspended.
Santa Monica street performers have spotted the downtown area for years, and while the recent safer-at-home orders have certainly affected the number of acts performing in recent months, performers have found ways to continue with a few creative adaptations.
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health has since received complaints that street performers performing in the Promenade are drawing large crowds that are not social distancing, the order states. This resulted in Public Health officials informing the City that the County Safer at Home Order prohibits live audiences for street performers, even if persons from different households maintain physical distancing from one another and wear face coverings, which is why street performers will now be prohibited during certain hours.
The recent order aligns the city’s emergency orders to the county’s rules, City spokesperson Constance Farrell said, stating there is hope Santa Monica performers will soon be able to continue offering the vibrant experiences that locals have accustomed to, but the supplement has been designed with the public’s health in mind so local officials ask for the public’s cooperation.
The supplement states performers will be subject to at least a $75 fine if they violate any provision of the temporary performer restrictions.
To view all of the provisions in the Twenty-Seventh Supplement, residents should visit bit.ly/SamoSupplement.
brennon@smdp.com
