Special Events on Public ROW policy
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MEMORANDUM
August3,2005
TO:
The Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM:
Michael C. Van Milligen, City Manager
SUBJECT: Special Events on Public Right-of-Way
The City of Dubuque has an established special events committee that reviews and
makes recommendations for special events held in the city limits. Due to the increased
number of special events involving a street closure, Assistant City Manager Cindy
Steinhauser and the Special Events Committee recommend City Council approval of
the establishment of a policy to hold special events on public rights-of-way that includes
the following:
. Must be a community event versus an event by an individual or business that is
merely trying to increase revenue from the event for their own interests;
. Event is open to the public
. Event organizers must obtain signatures of approval from 75% of the businesses
and property owners in the area adjacent to the event prior to issuance of special
event permit;
. No more than a two-day street closure will be permitted;
. Event organizers must meet all the necessary insurance and indemnity
requirements;
. Event organizers must meet all applicable local, state and federal requirements,
including the requirements in the City's Special Events Permit Application;
. Any outstanding issues/problems/bills from previous events the applicant was
involved in must be resolved; and
. Events can only be held one time per year, unless otherwise approved by City
Council.
I concur with the recommendation and respectfully request Mayor and City Council
approval.
(71) ~,1hJA
Mfchael C. Van Milligen "
MCVM/jh
Attachment
cc: Barry Lindahl, Corporation Counsel
Cindy Steinhauser, Assistant City Manager
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MEMORANDUM
August 2, 2005
TO:
Micheal C. Van Milligen, City Manager
FROM:
Cindy Steinhauser, Assistant City Manager
SUBJECT: Special events on Public Right of Way
Introduction
The purpose of this memorandum is review information related to special events on
public right of way and to recommend a policy regarding such events.
Discussion
The City of Dubuque has an established special events committee that reviews and
makes recommendations for special events held in the city limits. This committee
includes staff from the following departments: Police, Fire, Engineering, Health, Parking,
Transit, Emergency Communications and the City Manager's office. Also included are
Don Vrotsos from the County Sheriffs department and Dan LoBianco from Dubuque
Main Street Ltd. On average, this committee reviews over 100 special events
applications each year. Due to the increase number of special events involving a street
closure, this committee is recommending the establishment of a policy that better
regulates the type of event held on public right of way.
As part of our discussion, the committee noted that the closing of a street has a definite
impact on the adjacent property owners, businesses and residents as well on the
community due to the necessary changes in traffic circulation. These types of events
also present a potential risk to the city of Dubuque. However, the committee is in
agreement that community events are an important entertainment venue that contribute
to our local quality of life. However, it is important to make a distinction between a
special event held on public right of way by a for-profit entity as a means to expand its
square footage on a temporary basis to increase revenue versus a special event held
by a not-for-profit entity or a for-profit entity that donates the proceeds to a not-for-profit
organization. The concern is if we allow a for-profit to expand its square footage by 5-
to 10-fold on public streets simply to increase sales with no benefit to the community,
where do we draw the line? For example, do we allow every business in Old Main to
have a block event once per year? This could amount to 50 days of closures on Main
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Street alone each year and go beyond the intent of creating an entertainment district for
the downtown area.
As a result of this discussion the committee is recommending the establishment of a
policy to hold special events on public rights of way that includes the following:
· Must be a community event versus an event by an individual or business that is
merely trying to increase revenue from the event for their own interests;
. Event is open to the public
· Event organizers must obtain signatures of approval from 75% of the businesses
and property owners in the area adjacent to the event prior to issuance of special
event permit;
· No more than a two-day street closure will be permitted;
· Event organizers must meet all the necessary Insurance and Indemnity
requirements;
· Event organizers must meet all applicable local, state and federal requirements,
including the requirements in the City's Special Events Permit Application
· Any outstanding issues/problems/bills from previous events the applicant was
involved in must be resolved; and
· Events can only be held one time per year, unless otherwise approved by City
Council.
Exceptions to this policy would be parades as well as neighborhood block parties, which
are local in nature and do not have the same community impact that a festival has. In
addition, this policy would not apply to events such as sidewalk sales. City staff is
currently working on a recommendation to address use of public right of way for
sidewalk sales, display of merchandise and similar items. This recommendation will be
presented at a future City Council meeting for recommendation.
Request
The requested action is for you to review this recommendation and provide direction.
Upon your approval, staff will incorporate this into future special event requests that
meet these criteria for regulation.
Cc: Dan LoBianco, Dubuque Main Street Ltd.
Special Events Review committee