city park charging fees

So I just moved to Springfield Mo from Kansas city (Kansas side) and I have found that to shoot in one of the city parks here you must pay a fee for use of the park.

I kind of get it in as much as I am using the city to maintain and pay for my "Studio" for the day, but at the same time the city only charges fees at one park not all of them, the next is why would these fees not apply if i shoot at a city owned building or other parks that are maintained to the same standard of this park?
My next question is this legal for a city to do this? I would think that charging one person but not another is some how illegal.
Any input?
Joe

You're supposed to be getting and paying for a permit anyway, but most places let it slide.

http://blog.chasejarvi​s.com …ermit-photo-video-shoots/

riggerjoe wrote in post #14626496
....but at the same time the city only charges fees at one park not all of them,

They might be trialling the system at one before introducing it at all parks later. Or there might be different laws that apply to different parks - parks often exist because the land was bequeathed to the city by some local millionaire who insisted that the city could/couldn't do certain things with the land. Or, maybe, they just get lots of professional photographers in that one park and they want to reduce the numbers/get some financial benefit

See the above answer.
Plus, are you saying you can walk into city hall and just start doing a professional wedding photoshoot? I would expect someone to come over and tell you you can't.

Yes it's perfectly legal. They own the land and just like any other land owner they are allowed to control what happens on their land. Also, they aren't "charging one person but not another" they are charging all professional photographers.

Talk to the park district. What I found out was that the permits were mostly for people coming in and setting up large sets with multiple people (ie movie sets). Explain to them your intent and that you don't plan on setting up a large array of lighting and camera gear, chances are they will let it slide.

Also, many cities consider these fees necessary if you are doing it for commercial profit. They aren't going to cite everyone with a camera for a violation, but they may question you if you have a ton of equipment. Since every cell phone these days have a camera, every parent with a child or couple should need to get a license to walk through the park. I'm sure once you wade through the reasoning and restrictions, it will seem very valid.

In Austin they started doing this at the bigger parks because of the sheer number of photographers/personal trainers/yoga instructors/etc., who were clogging up the parks, making a profit on their business, and not paying anything.

It got ridiculous a few years ago when some trainer tried to tell a local production company that they shouldn't be able to run him off for a few weeks while they set up for a concert event. He lost.