Please place on the February 1, 2023 agenda a referral to the Public Safety and Neighborhood Quality of Life Committee, to consider amending the City’s Special Event Guidelines, for the purpose of providing residents and interested members of the community with prior notice of applications for special event permits.

The City’s Special Event Guidelines contain a number of requirements intended to notify residents that a special event is being considered in their neighborhood, including a requirement that certain adjacent property owners consent in writing and “sign off” on the proposed event, and the requirement that applicants present their plans before the appropriate neighborhood association, business association, or as part of a monthly Special Events Community Review meeting.  The purpose of these reviews is to assist the City Manager in determining whether to grant a Special Events Permit, or what conditions should be imposed in connection with the issuance of a permit.

In many cases, residents in affected neighborhoods do not have prior notice that a proposed Special Event application will in fact be considered at the monthly Community Review meeting, and only learn about the proposed Special Event if they happen to attend the monthly meeting.  Under such circumstances, with residents only hearing about a proposed event for the first time at the Community Review meeting, residents are often not well-positioned to provide substantive feedback at the meeting. 

I would like for the Committee to consider whether the City should provide more notice to residents of proposed Special Events, and specifically, whether the Guidelines should be amended to require that residents within a certain radius of an Event Site be provided with prior notice that a Special Event application  will be considered at the monthly Community Review meeting.  A notice requirement for Special Events would serve the public interest in providing interested stakeholders with the ability to attend and meaningfully participate in the discussions at the monthly Community Review meetings.

As part of this referral, I would ask for the Administration to be prepared to make any recommendations with respect to the various options for providing additional notice, such as mail notice similar to the notice provided for land use board applications, or more targeted email or website notice through the City’s Resident Connect portal, or other means.