West Bloomfield, MI Special Events & Permits: Park Event Permits (2026)

Section 16-23, enacted by Ord. No. 105-A on July 21, 1986, requires advance township approval before any large gathering in a community park, defined in Section 16-16 to include Bloomer Park, Sylvan Manor Park, Bloomfield Knolls Park, West Bloomfield Community Sports Center Park, Marshbank Park and any later-approved park. The permit threshold is fifty persons: an organized picnic, field day, carnival, concert, address, rally, dramatic presentation "or the like" that draws, or can reasonably be expected to draw, more than fifty attendees may not be held without a permit granted by the township beforehand.

The section does not stop at issuance: the event must also be "conducted in compliance with the conditions of such permit," so the township can attach conditions, such as limits on hours, amplified sound under Section 16-29, or vending under Section 16-26's ban on unauthorized commercial activity, and a violation of any permit condition is itself a Section 16-23 violation even though a permit was obtained. The Code does not print a separate fee schedule inside this section; Section 16-30 separately makes it unlawful to obtain a township park service, privilege or license without paying whatever fee the township has set.

Chapter 16 assigns no unique fine to Section 16-23, so an unpermitted large gathering defaults to the Code's general penalty in Section 1-10: a misdemeanor punishable by up to 93 days in jail and/or a $500 fine, with each day of the unpermitted event potentially charged as a separate offense. The West Bloomfield Parks and Recreation Commission administers the permit.