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21 <br /> Chair Price recognized Tony Marimpietri for serving and leading the subcommittee <br /> voluntarily. <br /> Tony Marimpietri said that he appreciates the kind words and there are a lot of <br /> shoulders pushing the cart forward. He said that Alliance Health is highly engaged and <br /> providing great value. <br /> Chair Price asked for a tour of the facilities to be scheduled in the future for the <br /> commissioners. <br /> b. Regulation of Large Gatherings <br /> The Board received information regarding a means of regulating large gatherings in Orange <br /> County. <br /> BACKGROUND: The Board of Commissioners asked for information on how the County may <br /> regulate protests or large gatherings in Orange County. The attachments include a legal <br /> overview of the regulation of protests and gatherings that was previously provided to the Board <br /> together with examples of how other jurisdictions approach this issue and some relevant state <br /> statutes. <br /> John Roberts reviewed the background information for the item. He said the county can <br /> impose time, place, and manner restrictions and limitations on large gatherings. He said that <br /> the county can restrict the display of weapons. He said the county can require permits, <br /> notification of upcoming gatherings, and can create buffer zones. He said that the Board <br /> generally can't restrict gatherings on private property, except during a declaration of emergency <br /> or where the gathering is commercial in nature and the property is zoned residential. He said <br /> that the state has some regulations regarding the riot acts that address gatherings. He said that <br /> this prohibits the incitement of lawlessness, rioting, injury to person or property and allows law <br /> enforcement to break up a crowd. <br /> John Roberts said he has included some examples of what other local jurisdictions have <br /> done on this topic. For example, the City of Raleigh requires permits for protests but not for <br /> "peaceful picketing," but "peaceful picketing" is not clearly defined. He said that the ordinance <br /> gives police the authority to break up crowds that are blocking streets or sidewalks. <br /> Commissioner McKee asked John Roberts to clarify imminent threats. He said that <br /> some of the issues in Orange County have included people using loud noises and bullhorns. <br /> John Roberts said that an immediate or imminent threat to people, speaks for itself. He <br /> said that it is not just someone that may be offensive or insulting someone. He said that if they <br /> are holding a baseball bat and swinging it at somebody, but they have not contacted anyone <br /> yet, this is an imminent threat to somebody's health and could cause physical injury. He said <br /> that if they are acting like they are going to start hitting cars or windows that is an immediate <br /> threat or if they are actually hitting people with their hands or with an object or damaging. He <br /> said that threatening language that does not result in imminent potential is not enough. He said <br /> that you can't break something up just because someone's feelings are hurt, or they get mad. <br /> Commissioner McKee asked what the dividing line between threat and imminent threat <br /> is. He asked if they are in a meeting and someone is voicing their opinion in a loud and <br /> boisterous manner, and he feels intimidated, does that constitute removal. <br /> John Roberts said that will be fact specific and depend on the circumstances. He said <br /> that if it is a public meeting like this one, there's statutory law protecting the disruption of a <br /> meeting and they can be removed from public property. He said that if they are on the sidewalk <br /> using a bullhorn, he would not say that the county would have the authority to remove <br /> someone. <br />