Medina, OH Special Events & Permits: Park Event Permits (2026)

Section 945.02 lists what a person may not do on park or recreation land the City owns or leases, and two of those prohibitions are permit gates rather than outright bans. Subsection (d) bars camping on City park property unless the camper has prior written permission from the Parks and Recreation Director for that specific activity. Subsection (e) bars selling any goods, wares or merchandise on park land, again unless the seller has the Director's prior written permission, with one built-in exception: sales by local service clubs, schools, religious organizations or other charitable groups do not need the permit.

The same section also regulates fires: subsection (c) requires prior written permission from both the Fire Chief and the Parks and Recreation Director before anyone builds a fire in a park, and even then it must be in a designated area or container. Read together, Sections 945.02(c) through (e) put the Parks and Recreation Director at the center of any organized activity in a Medina park that goes beyond ordinary recreational use, whether that is an overnight camp-out, a bake sale table, or a bonfire.

The chapter does not set a fee schedule or a processing timeline for these written permissions in the code itself; it simply conditions the activity on the Director's advance written approval. Violating any of these restrictions falls under the Chapter 945 general penalty at Section 945.99, a minor misdemeanor, since Section 945.02 carries no separate penalty of its own. The same section separately requires dogs in a park to stay on an eight-foot or shorter leash unless inside the Ray Mellert Dog Park.