City staff and council members on Tuesday reviewed Melbourne’s rules for “large‑group feedings” at parks after months of resident complaints tied to a single recurring event at Riverview Park.

Parks and Recreation Director Nikki Caldwell explained the city’s current roster of parks where large‑group feedings are allowed under code and the weekday and weekend time windows that apply. “We reviewed all of the amenities in each park, all of our programmed activities, and created … maps showing the acreage where all the amenities are located within each park,” she told council.

Under current rules, staff said, feedings are permitted in several community parks during weekday hours and at a smaller subset of parks on weekends. Caldwell told the council that Riverview Park — the site of a weekly Sunday distribution for about 13 months — is presently designated as a community park under the city’s classification and contains the pavilions, playground and non‑motorized boat ramp typical of that category.

Many nearby residents urged limits or a change of location for recurring events at Riverview. “They set up under the trees, they use the pavilions, and they’re right next to the playgrounds,” said nearby resident Margo Pearson. She asked the council to consider removing Riverview from the roster for large‑group feedings or, at a minimum, to require that distributions use the large pavilion rather than green space directly adjacent to children’s play areas.

Other residents and at least one volunteer group asked the council to preserve access to public spaces for food distributions. A resident who described organizing a food pantry told council that many people who use such services lack reliable transportation and that dispersing events citywide could make access harder for those in need.

After hearing public comment, council members discussed two staff proposals: an alternating‑weekend roster that would keep weekday opportunities intact and rotate weekend feedings among additional parks; and a more comprehensive alternating‑weeks approach that would rotate both weekday and weekend opportunities.

Council direction: By consensus the council favored a less intrusive change — an alternating‑weekend roster — and asked staff to return with a draft ordinance that defines a rotating weekend schedule and identifies an additional park or parks to join the weekend roster. City attorneys said a rotation can be defensible under First Amendment case law if the new schedule preserves “ample alternative” locations and is written in a content‑neutral manner.

Why it matters: The decision balances two city obligations: protecting free‑speech‑protected expressive conduct (food distribution is recognized by courts as expressive in many cases) and managing safety, public access and sanitation in parkland used for multiple recreational programs.

What’s next: Staff will draft an ordinance implementing a weekend rotation and return to council with the proposed schedule, an analysis of legal considerations under the First Amendment and recommended operational controls (trash pickup, pavilion assignment and fee waiver criteria).