New policy expands expression

By Kevin MacMillan
BONANZA INTERIM EDITOR, kmacmillan@tahoebonanza.com
May 2, 2008

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Language opens beach parking lots, sidewalks to everyone
For the first time in 40 years, district residents without access to the three Incline Village General Improvement District beaches no longer need a beach pass to gain access to their parking lots and fenced-in sidewalks.

In fact, as of Thursday, one doesn’t have to be an IVGID resident at all to get inside the fences of Incline, Ski and Burnt Cedar beaches.

The IVGID Board of Trustees unanimously adopted “Policy and Procedure Number 136” at Wednesday’s meeting. It went into effect Thursday.

“Some time ago, the issue was raised that the district acknowledge where people can exercise their First Amendment rights. This policy addresses that,” said IVGID General Counsel Scott Brooke, who drafted the proposal and presented it at Wednesday’s meeting.

According to the policy, “the district designates public forum areas within its real property and facilities, and encourages any individual or group to use such designated public forum areas for the exercise of expression, speech and assembly, in accordance with this policy. The district will not further regulate such exercise except as consistent with applicable law.”

According to the policy, areas designated as public forums within IVGID are: “The parking lots, the walkways within and adjacent to the parking lots and the sidewalks adjacent to any public entrance to any building open to the public, located on such listed real properties and facilities.”

Besides the three beaches, the other “public forum areas” in the policy include: The Anne Vorderbruggen Building, Recreation Center, Tennis Complex, The Chateau, Diamond Peak Ski Resort, Preston Field, Mountain Golf Course, Aspen Grove and Village Green. As part of Wednesday’s approval, trustees and Brooke agreed other venues, including the Skate Park, should be added to the policy.

Furthermore, the policy reads: “In order to preserve the peace, however, and to promote the significant interests of the district ... the district may make reasonable, lawful rules and regulations with respect to the time, place and manner of any use of its real property and facilities for purposes of expression, speech and assembly.”
The entire policy can be viewed in Wednesday’s meeting agenda packet (available online at www.tahoebonanza.con or in person at the IVGID administration building, 893 Southwood Blvd.).

IVGID General Manager Bill Horn said the policy is something most governmental agencies have.

“We’ve been working on something like this for a year now,” Horn said. “Bottom line is both the trustees and IVGID felt that since other government bodies have policies that spell out where you can gather, that we needed to have a policy of our own.”

During Wednesday’s meeting, some residents voiced concern over the policy, asking the board how the policy was going to be policed, why some district areas are or are not on the public forum list and whether the policy should be adopted, considering the district currently is under two beach access-driven lawsuits.
“Now you’re expanding zones to where people can stand and express their free speech, in a country of freedom? That’s North Korea,” said Crystal Bay resident Steven Kroll. “This now encourages everyone in the world to come to these beaches and practice free speech.”

When IVGID purchased Burnt Cedar Beach and Incline Beach from the Crystal Bay Development Company for $2.1 million in June 1968, the deed written in light of purchase contains a restriction that limits access to the beaches to the district as it was constituted at the time of the purchase. That deed has been upheld over the years after attempts to challenge it have been shot down, most recently on Aug. 29, 2007, when trustees voted 3-2 to not adopt a proposed resolution that would make IVGID residents without beach access able to access the beaches.

Over the years, to ensure only residents who reside within the 1968 deed gain access at the resident rate, separate recreation cards were issued to non beach-access residents, which state in bold letters: “NO BEACH.” Cards have been checked at the gate prior to access inside the fences of the beaches.

However, with Thursday’s enacted policy, those cards no longer will be checked at the gates, meaning anyone, IVGID resident or not, now can gain access to the beach parking lots and/or sidewalks, so long as they don’t interrupt or get in the way of beach patrons.

But if non-beach access residents attempt to leave the parking lot and/or adjacent sidewalk and set foot on the beach, then they would be in violation of the district’s beach policy, Horn and Brooke confirmed.

As far as how to discipline potential violators to the policy, Horn said the district doesn’t plan to hire extra staff.

“Our hope is everyone stay within the designated boundaries,” Horn said. “We don’t anticipate anyone to violate (the policy).”

Besides the beaches, the same rules apply for the other “public forum areas” listed in the policy. For example if a Kings Beach resident wanted to practice his or her First Amendment rights in the parking lot and/or sidewalks adjacent to the parking lot at the IVGID Recreation Center, that would be allowed under Policy 136.

However, if that person tries to do the same inside the Recreation Center, he or she would be in violation of district policy, because the inside of the building, much like the sand and water portion of the beaches, are not outlined as “public forum areas” in the policy.