Earlier this month, and for the first time in nearly a decade and a half, the Las Vegas City Council unanimously, if grudgingly, voted to enact rules allowing and regulating street entertainers on Fremont Street.
According to the ordinance, street performers, panhandlers, and the like are permitted to ply their trade, provided they stay 20 feet away from doors, ATMs, fire lanes and crosswalks, and 10 feet away from retail kiosks and outdoor cafes. Other restrictions include the space that a performer may take up -- no more than a radius of two feet -- that performers must stay at least 200 feet away from any stage performance taking place and can’t perform during the light show or other special events, like New Year’s Eve. There are limitations on noise and the size and nature of any props used in the performance.
We haven’t been downtown since the new ordinance came into effect, but from your timely email it sounds as if people jumped at the opportunity to perform downtown, as soon as it was legalized. Reportage in the R-J shows a Sponge Bob and someone dressed up in KISS warpaint and costume, although we didn’t see Batman or Elmo. Opponents of the measure hope that it won’t see an escalation in the type of "porn slapper" activity that’s so rampant on the Strip, and which is protected by First Amendment free speech rights. Entertainers may ask for donations, but not beg or charge money for their performance.
