8.1 SR 02-16-2021
Request for Action
To Item Number
Mayor and City Council 8.1
Agenda Section Meeting Date Prepared by
General Business February 16, 2021 Cal Portner, City Administrator
Item Description Reviewed by
Ordinance Amendment: Targeted Picketing
Reviewed by
Action Requested
Adopt, by motion, an ordinance regulating targeted picketing in residential neighborhoods in the city.
Background/Discussion
Council held a discussion regarding targeted picketing at their February 20 meeting and consensus was to draft an
ordinance to prohibit it.
Financial Impact
N/A
Mission/Policy/Goal
N/A
Attachments
Ordinance
The Elk River Vision
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Updated: August 2020
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Ordinance 21 - 3
An Ordinance Amending Chapter 50, Article III, of the City of Elk River, Minnesota
City Code Relating to and Regulating Targeted Picketing in Residential Neighborhoods
in the City of Elk River
The City Council of the City of Elk River does hereby ordain as follows:
SECTION 1. That Chapter 50, Article III, of the City of Elk River Code of Ordinances shall be
amended by adding the new §50-63, Residential Targeted Picketing to read as follows:
(a) Purpose. The City has an interest in the protection of residential privacy, the wellbeing and
tranquility of the home, and protecting citizens from unwanted speech when they are a
captive audience within their homes. The City Council finds that, without resorting to
targeted residential picketing, ample opportunities exist for those otherwise engaged in
targeted residential picketing to exercise constitutionally protected freedoms of speech and
expression.
(b) Definitions. For the purposes of this Section, the term “targeted residential picketing”
means:
1. Marching, standing or patrolling by one or more persons directed solely at a particular
residential building in a manner that adversely affects the safety, security, or privacy of
an occupant of the building; or
2. Marching, standing or patrolling by one or more persons which prevents an occupant
of a residential building from gaining access to or exiting from the property on which
the residential building is located; or
3. Standing, marching, patrolling or picketing by one or more persons focused in front
of or adjacent to a particular residential dwelling without the consent of that dwelling’s
occupant or occupants.
(c) Prohibited Activity. No person shall engage in targeted residential picketing within the City.
(d) Violation/Penalty. Every person convicted of a violation of any provision of this Section
shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
(e) Severability. Should any section, clause or other provision of this Section be held to be
invalid by any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity
of the Section as a whole, or of any part thereof, other than the part held to be invalid.
SECTION 2. That this ordinance shall take effect upon adoption and be published as provided by
law.
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Passed and adopted by the City Council of the City of Elk River this 16th day of February, 2021.
______________________________
John J. Dietz, Mayor
ATTEST:
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Tina Allard, City Clerk