North Cook News

The Arlington Heights Village Board of Trustees recently discussed regulations for street performers within the community.

During the April 17 Village board meeting, officials pulled an item from their consent agenda for further discussion before adoption. City manager Randall Recklaus explained the item, sharing that the board directed City staff to create more guidelines for buskers, or street performers, in the city because they were becoming increasingly popular and there were no ordinances pertaining to them. Recklaus noted that regulations drafted for the board’s approval do not require buskers to have any sort of permit or license, but they are limited to public rights-of-way between 10 a.m. and 9 p.m. only. Buskers are not allowed to obstruct passageways, streets, sidewalks, entrances or bike racks and cannot erect any tents or structures, nor may they amplify sound for their performances.

Those restrictions do not extend to any Village-sponsored events, various festivals or summer events, or other licensed performers. Those who have a specific license or signed contract with the Village do not fall under the stipulations; instead, they operate under the guidelines agreed upon in their contract with the Village. Trustee Robin LaBedz, who pulled the item for clarification and comments, explained to Village staff that those exemptions would also include performers or musicians hired by restaurants or businesses in the downtown area that had fresco areas in their buildings for entertainment purposes. If performers are within the business' property, they are not considered buskers and are not subject to the ordinance.

Some of the trustees were concerned about portions of the ordinance that seemed vague in their limitations, but Village staff explained that they had to be somewhat vague because of First Amendment rights and the various summer entertainments that they host throughout the village each year.

"As Trustee Scaletta said when we were discussing this, back when al fresco was, there were some noise issues in town," Trustee Tom Schwingbeck said in the meeting. "We did give you full autonomy to shut it down if necessary. So I think reading through this, it does give our al fresco businesses, whoever has that agreement with us, to to play music in a respectful way. So I'm fully supportive of the way it it's written. I think it protects our businesses as well. And for some reason, as we move forward, if al fresco stops or or we decide not to give a business license out, I think we're covered there too."

Chip Brooks from Hey Nonny addressed the board, asking that anyone working through their business be exempt from the ordinance. He suggested that they phrase it to exclude anyone with a license through the Village of business. The Village board voted to approve the ordinance as drafted.