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Home My WebLink AboutORDINANCES-1962-006-O-62• r� U r� U 346 6-0-62 AN ORDINANCE Amending Sections 35-29 to 35-38, inclusive; of the Code of the City of Evanston, 1957, as amended, Regulating Exhibitions of Motion Pictures. BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF EVANSTON, COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS. SECTION 1: That Sections 35-29 to 35-38, inclusive, of Article II, Division 2, "Theatres, Shows and Exhibitions" of the Code of the City of Evanston, 1957, as amended, be further amended so that the same shall hereafter be and read as follows.. Section 35-29 - Permit - Exceptions - Penalty: It shall be unlawful for any person to show or exhibit in a public place, or in a place where the public is admitted anywhere in the City of Evanston, any picture or series of pictures of the classes or kinds commonly shown in mutoscopes, kinetoscopes, or cine- matographs, and in all other automatic or motion -picture devices, whether an admission fee is charged or not, without first having secured a permit therefor as provided in this ordinance. The permit provided for in this ordinance shall not be necessary where any motion picture is being exhibited in any school or church, pro- vided, however, that such exhibition shall be under the personal supervision and control of the principal of such school or the pastor of such church. • All films, exclusively portraying current events or pictorial news of the day, com- monly called news reels, or excerpts from the daily press, may be exhibited without inspection and no permits shall be required therefor, No permit shall be granted until and unless such motion picture film has been investi- gated by the Motion Picture Consultant as provided in this ordinance. No fee shall be charged for such permit. Permits shall be issued by the City Manager or his duly authorized representative. Any person exhibiting any picture or series of pictures without a permit having been obtained therefor, except as provided in this ordinance, shall be fined not less than fifty dollars nor more than two hundred dollars for each offense. A separate and • distinct offense shall be regarded as having been committed for each exhibition of each picture or series of pictures without a permit. Section 35-30 - Motion Picture Consultant-, Appointment - Duties- There is hereby created the position of Motion Picture , Consultant, which position shall be filled by appointment by the City Manager. It shall be the duty of the Motion Picture Consultant to investigate all motion pic- tures sought to be exhibited prior to their being exhibited in the City of Evanston, and recommend in writing to the City Man- ager, or his duly authorized representative, whether to grant or to deny a permit, or if granted, whether any cut-outs from a reel or series of pictures shall be made together with the elimination of objec- tionable remarks or sentences from the film or sound producing apparatus, and cause all such motion pictures to be brought into con- formity with the standards set forth in Section 35-31 of this ordinance. • 347 -2- • Rev. 6/18/62 It shall also be the duty of the Motion Picture Consultant to prepare and main- tain a record of all motion picture films investigated, whether previously exhibited in the City of Evanston or not, together with recommended cuts or elimination of objection- able portions of pictures or series of ob- jectionable remarks or sentences. Such in- formation shall be available upon request to any exhibitor of motion pictures opera- ting within the City. Section 35-31 - Objectionable Films: It shall be unlawful for any person to show or exhibit or cause to be shown or exhibited to any person under the age of 17 years any motion picture, when considered as a whole, its calculated purpose or dominant effect is substantially to arouse sexual desires and the effect of which is so great as to out- weigh whatever artistic or other merits the film may possess, and of which to a person under the age of 17 years, applying contem- porary community standards, the dominant theme of the material taken as a whole • appeals to prurient interests; provided, however, that any person of any age may view any film if accompanied by either of his parents or legally appointed guardian. Section 35-32 - Posting of Permit: The written permit provided for in this ordi- nance shall be posted at or near the en- trance of the theatre, hall, room, or place where any permitted picture or series of pictures is being exhibited, at such a place and in such a position that it may easily be read by any person entering such theatre, hall, room, or place, at any time when any such permitted picture or series of pictures is being exhibited, whether in the day time or in the night time. Section 35-33 - Subsequent Permits: When a permit to show a picture or series of pictures is once granted to an exhibitor in the City, the picture or series of pic- tures may be shown by any other exhibitor in the City, provided that permit is ap- plied for and delivered to such other ex- hibitor subject to the terms and conditions stipulated in the first permit issued. • -3- f16 • 349 Section 35-34 - Motion Picture Appeal Board; There is hereby created a Motion Picture Appeal Board which shall consist of seven members to be appointed by the Mayor with the approval of the City Council. No mem- ber so appointed shall be an officer, em- ployee, or member of any other Board of the municipal government, member of the City Council, or have any interest direct or indirect in the motion picture industry. Each member shall be appointed for a term of three years and until his successor shall have been appointed. Said members shall be personally experienced or educated in one or more of the following fields: art, drama, literature, philosophy, sociology, psychology, history, music, science, or other related fields. The membership of the Board of the greatest extent practicable shall reflect • the community standards and be diversified as to religion, ethnic background, education, and experience. Section 35-35 - Duties The duties of the Motion Picture Appeals Board shall be to review any decisions on a film or part of a film made by the Motion Picture Consul- tant. The Board shall have power to af- firm, revise, or reverse the decision of the Motion Picture Consultant. The Board shall adopt such rules or regulations as it deems necessary to carry out its powers and duties. An application for review may be filed by an exhibitor, his agent, or distributor, seeking a permit to exhibit any motion picture. Each application for review shall be accompanied with a fee of $10 to reimburse the City for clerical and administrative costs of appeal. Within seven days after application for review has been received by the Board the film or films shall be made available to the Board for examination at such place as the Board may designate in writing and said Board shall view the picture in its entirety. After viewing the picture • and before any determination is made by the -4- • • • 350 Board, the exhibitor, his agent, or dis- tributor seeking the permit on review shall be given an opportunity to present testi- mony and statements or arguments in support of the exhibition of said film. The Board shall make a ruling in writing signed by at least four members of the Board of their determination. Section 35-36 - Findings and Decision of Board: In the event the Motion Picture Appeal Board affirms the decision of the Motion Picture Consultant in rejecting a motion picture, findings of fact shall be made, and the ground or grounds upon which the rejection is based shall be stated with particularity, and the part or the parts of the picture which are considered in viola- tion of this ordinance shall be cited. The written notice of such rejection, containing such findings, shall thereupon be served upon the applicant, in person or by regis- tered or certified mail, within ten days after the hearing before the Motion Picture Appeal Board. Section 35-37 - Judicial Review: The action of the Motion Picture Appeal Board shall be final and shall be subject to judicial re- view as provided by law. Section 35-38 - Severability: The inten- tion of the City Council is hereby expressed that the provisions of this ordinance are severable and that the invalidity of any section hereof, or of any portion of any section hereof, shall not affect any other section or portion of section of this ordinance. SECTION 2: All ordinances or parts of ordinances in conflict herewith are hereby repealed. Section'75-28 of the Code -5- • 0 351 Rev. 6/18/62 of the City of Evanston, 1957, is hereby expressly repealed. SECTION 32 This ordinance shall be in full force and effect from and after its passage, approval, and publication, according to law. INTRODUCED June 18 , 1962 ADOPTED, Julv 2 , 1962 as amended ATTEST° /s/ Maurice F. Brown City Clerk Approved as to form - Is/ Russell A. Behrens Acting Corporation Counsel Published° Julv 12 APPROVED July 5 , 1962 /s/ William A. Nott Mayor Pro Tem , 1962 Code Page 452g