Lubbock City Council Gives Preliminary Approval to Stricter Bounce House Regulations

At Thursday's Lubbock City Council meeting, the council approved the first reading of an ordinance imposing further regulations on inflatable play equipment in city parks.

Following complaints from some who reside near neighborhood parks, the City composed an ordinance that would keep inflatable play equipment such as bounce houses in larger community and regional parks in Lubbock and out of the smaller scale Lubbock neighborhood parks.

Originally, the ordinance banned inflatable equipment such as bounce houses from being staked down on park grounds due to damages to sprinkler and other lines run within the park grounds, since the placement of most of the underground infrastructure in the older community parks is unknown.

Mayor Tom Martin requested that a clip of a news cast from Long Island, New York be played which showed footage of a bounce house that was not staked into the ground being picked up and carried by the wind, resulting in injuries to the children that were playing within.

Following the clip, District 6 Councilman Jim Gilbreath suggested an amendment to the ordinance requiring bounce house operators to stake the units into the ground, rather than using sandbags and metal plates. The amendment passed unanimously.

The new ordinance would require inflatable play equipment operators to procure a $25 permit from the City’s Parks and Recreation Department before being allowed to set up the equipment, require at least $300,000 general liability insurance, and the bounce houses may only be placed in certain designated areas of 20 community and regional parks in the area. Only one bounce house could operate in a single park at any given time, and can only be used for a maximum of four hours.

There are 80 parks under the City of Lubbock’s control, not counting Lake Alan Henry. Some of the parks designated to allow inflatable play equipment would include Aztlan, Mae Simmons, Mahon, Mackenzie, McAllister, Clapp, and the Buddy Holly Recreational Area.

Some that reside near neighborhood parks, particularly Wagner Park at 26^th Street and Elgin Avenue complained of noise from generators and increased traffic near their homes due to the bounce houses. Other complaints relating to the inflatable play equipment were damage to grass and sprinkler systems at the park.

Police Chief Roger Ellis assured the council that the Lubbock Police Department will be able to enforce the ordinance.

“It’s always a balancing act for enforcement based on priorities, but we’ll have the manpower to handle those issues” Ellis said.

District 1 Councilman Victor Hernandez said he supported many of the items addressed within the ordinance, but said he could not support it due to the ban on inflatable play equipment from all smaller parks, particularly citing Guadalupe Park at 2^nd Street and Avenue P, which is not surrounded by homes on all sides.

Hernandez said “It seems to me that Wagner Park, and the folks around there are the ones with, at least today, the loudest voice and the biggest concern… For example, Guadalupe Park. That’s surrounded by railroad on two sides. On the third side, an elementary school, and then across the street, you’ve got houses. I will tell you, those folks mind the railroad a heck of a lot more than one of these inflatables, and they use their park extensively.”

The first reading of the ordinance passed 6 to 1, Councilman Hernandez dissenting. The ordinance will become final if the council passes the second reading at their next meeting.