Salem committee reviews draft policy to restrict commercial uses of council chambers and require ADA access

Salem City Council members and the city solicitor reviewed a draft ordinance change and accompanying policy to govern use of the City Council chambers and anteroom, emphasizing that access through the chamber must remain Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant at all times and that private or commercial events should require majority council approval.Councilor Marcello said, "At all times, access across the council chamber must be fully accessible," and Councilor Stott echoed that standard, saying access "shall be ADA compliant at all times."The draft would replace current Salem Code language in Chapter 2, Section 10 so the ordinance would reference a council-established policy that can be amended by the City Council. Under the current draft, use of the anteroom outside scheduled council or subcommittee meetings would be delegated to the city clerk. The city clerk reviewed the draft and provided comments that the group said had been incorporated during earlier drafting sessions.Councilors and the city solicitor discussed a list of allowable uses and usage rules drafted after reviewing other municipal policies. The draft emphasizes the council chamber is a public room primarily used for the business of the City Council and that, given the chamber’s location in City Hall, all uses must be accessible to the public. The draft also includes a provision barring private or commercial uses without majority approval of the City Council; Councilor Stott and others said they wanted that language preserved so extraordinary requests would come before the full council.Councilor Marcello offered examples to illustrate why the clause should remain, saying he wanted the council to have the ability to vet unusual requests such as a film production or an off-site foreign ceremony that might ask to use the chamber. "I can't think this is going to be, like, hundreds of requests a year," Marcello said, adding that in his six years he had not seen many requests that would fall outside the policy.General discussion also covered whether the ordinance should explicitly require that "access through city council chambers shall be ADA compliant at all times." The committee discussed preferred wording and whether to handle that as an amendment to the ordinance or as a provision of the policy; no formal motion or vote to adopt language occurred during this meeting.The city solicitor, Beth Renard, participated in drafting and advised on wording. Committee members noted the draft policy incorporated the mayor’s existing flag-raising and event screening practices and that other routine civic uses—such as public safety swearing-in ceremonies and human resources events—already occur in the room and are contemplated by the draft. The committee said staff-level screening by the city clerk for routine anteroom requests would remain, while extraordinary or commercial requests should be referred to the full council for majority approval.The committee did not take a formal vote on the ordinance or the policy. A notice in the meeting record indicated a subsequent in-person meeting of the Committee of the Law was posted for Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2025, at 6 p.m. at City Council Chambers, 93 Washington Street, Second Floor, as the next opportunity for continued review.