Orange Mound mass shooting could lead to permitting changes for Memphis Parks

In response to the mass shooting at Orange Mound Park over the weekend, the city of Memphis could be looking to revise the permitting ordinance for renting park space.

Antonio Adams, chief operating officer of the City of Memphis, said during Tuesday morning Memphis City Council committee meetings an ordinance change "will be considered," but in the meantime, there will be a better application for permits to reveal more information about the gathering. Costs could be associated with some rentals, Adams said.

"I think that a lot of the information is on the application for the permit, but then also we can also deal with that entirely by creating policy (and) that we have to strictly adhere to that," Adams said.

According to the Memphis Police Department, a group of "approximately 200-300 people" people were gathered in Orange Mound Park in the 2400 block of Carnes Avenue Saturday for a block party when at least two people began firing at the crowd. Eight people were shot, and two were killed, according to MPD.

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The block party did not have a permit.

Memphis Parks Director Nick Walker said issues typically arise with unpermitted events, and it would take more than just revising permitting.

"This happens quite regularly in all of our parks...it is something that we are working with MPD and the administration to address," Walker said.

Walker said the department currently has six full-time park rangers who work seven days a week, and they focus their efforts on permitted events. The rangers will visit the rented spaces and ensure that the lights are operating, no one else is using the area and the space is clean, Walker said.

"So, on the weekends, typically when you have those events, that is where we've dedicated our resources," Walker said. "We also ask them to patrol other parks, but again, we have 162 parks and six full-time rangers, and so our capacity to be able to check every park, even if we were to isolate the problematic parks, we don't have the manpower to do it."

Currently, small pavilions that are available to rent are first come first serve, according to Walker. Small groups that are under 25 people are able to go to the smaller pavilions and use the space without a permit. For a public gathering of 25 people or more, a permit is needed per the public assembly ordinance, according to Walker.

More: Memphis police: Teen, 22-year-old were killed in Saturday's Orange Mound mass shooting

Councilwoman Rhonda Logan said things need to change with communication regarding the parks department and the permitting office. Logan said per the current code, only MPD and the Office of Emergency Management are notified and that could cause issues with the amenities in the park.

"So, for instance...someone could just go to the permit office and get a permit to have an event in a space...maybe they just got new sod, or they just got some amenities placed over there, and then those are damaged or destroyed. Well... there was no coordination between the parks department and the permitting office," Logan said.

Adams said that the administration is currently working on opening up the line of communication for all the stakeholders involved when events are hosted at the parks.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Orange Mound mass shooting could change Memphis parks rental rules