San Clemente, CA Special Events & Permits: Commercial Filming on Public Right-of-Way (2026)

050 lists nine grounds on which the Filming Coordinator may deny a San Clemente filming permit, and subsection C addresses the direct conflict between commercial filming and the city's separate special-events permitting system: a filming permit may be denied where the City has both issued a permit authorizing the proposed filming site to be used for a special event or other filming activity and the Filming Coordinator determines that the proposed filming activity is incompatible with the previously approved special event or filming activity. In practice, that means a beach concert, a street fair, or an earlier film shoot that already holds a valid permit for a location takes priority, and a later filming application for the same site and dates can be turned away if the two uses would clash, whether over crowd control, equipment staging, parking, or public access.

050(I) lets the Filming Coordinator deny a filming permit outright if the proposed activity would itself constitute an "adult-oriented business" activity as defined elsewhere in the code. A denial under subsection C is not automatically final. 090, any person may appeal the Filming Coordinator's denial in writing to the City Clerk no later than two working days before the filming was to begin, and the City Manager reviews the record and either sustains or overrules the decision.