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Home My WebLink About9/15/2004 - STAFF REPORTS (29) DATE: September 15, 2004 TO: CITY COUNCIL FROM: DIRECTOR OF THE DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT CENTER APPROVAL AND ADOPTION OF "MAINSTREET PROPOSED STANDARDS FOR SPECIAL EVENT STREET CLOSURES" IN DOWNTOWN RECOMMENDATION: Approve and adopt the document "MainStreet Proposed Standards for Special Event Street Closures" regarding multi day closures of Palm Canyon Drive and other Central Business District Streets. SUMMARY: The Board of Directors of MainStreet-Palm Springs, a California Nonprofit Mu- tual Benefit Corporation which represents a coalition of downtown business and property owners, has addressed problems with multi day special event street closures by drafting the attached "MainStreet Proposed Standards for Special Event Street Closures". This document has been adopted by the MainStreet Board and forwarded to City Council for consideration for approval and adoption. Prior to reviewing with City Council, MainStreet and the Down- town Development Center reviewed this document with the Parks and Rec- reation Commission on September 8 in order to receive comments. These comments will become part of the staff report to City Council regarding this matter. BACKGROUND: Historically, special events held in Downtown Palm Springs have involved a multi day street closure of Palm Canyon Drive, usually from Alejo on the north to Baristo on the south. Other events (such as VillageFest) and parades (such as the Festival of Lights and Veteran's Day Parade) involve a closure of this section of Palm Canyon Drive for only a few hours of one day. While events and parades are generally welcomed in Downtown as a way to draw custom- ers to the area businesses, major multi day events (such as American Heat/ Bike Weekend, RocktoberFest, and Classic Car Show and Auction) have cre- ated a perceived loss of business to many retail businesses in Downtown. This is primarily due to the need to close Palm Canyon Drive for up to 36 con- secutive hours for each major event. Also, significant problems with the se- lection and placement of event vendors has continued to be a problem, par- ticularly for multi day street closure events. MainStreet has worked for the past two years to addrress this problem, and this document is the result. Page Two JERR OG RN ti Dire r of ntown D veloprnent APPROVED—, City Manager ATTACHMENTS Minute Order "MainStreet Proposed Standards for Special Event Street Closures" MainStreet Proposed Standards for Special Event Street Closures • Contract Requirements 1.) Any event to be held in Downtown Palm Springs (Palm Springs Central Business Dis- trict) that involves a street closure of any type and/or a suspension of any City Ordinance shall be required to have an executed contract in place between the City of Palm Springs and the event promoter prior to proceeding with the event. The contract shall address in de- tail the City's requirements, performance standards and penalties for nonperformance of that specific event. A performance bond or deposit will be required by the City from the event promoter, linked to specified measurable consequences, for noncompliance with any of the contract provisions. 2) The MainStreet Board of Directors shall be given the opportunity to review the event promoter's application and make recommendations and/or suggestions regarding the per- formance standards and requirements for each contract, with final approval of each contract being made by City Council. 3) The City Manager shall designate a Contract Administrator and an Event Marshall who shall enforce all aspects of the contract, including offsetting compensation to the City for any breach of contract requirements and/or performance standards. • Street Closure Requirements 1) Unless specifically approved otherwise as an exception, any closure of any portion or all of Palm Canyon Drive between Alejo Road on the north and Ramon Road on the south shall be limited to a single 24 hour period from midnight to midnight on a Satur- day or Holiday. This 24 hour period shall include time required for setting up and tear- ing down the entire event, including the street closure. 2) On the Friday preceding a Saturday closure of Palm Canyon Drive for a special event, the following east west streets between Indian Canyon Drive on the east and Belardo Road on the west, with the exception of the Palm Canyon Drive intersections, may be closed for an additional 24 hour period from midnight to midnight and remain closed during the following Saturday closure of Palm Canyon Drive: Amado Road, An- dreas Road and Arenas Road. •Vendor Booth Standards 1) Vendor booth placement standards for street closure events shall typically follow those rules required by VillageFest, with the following specific requirements empha- sized. 2) Maximum booth size/footprint dimensions of twelve feet deep by twenty feet long. 3) Maximum of five directly adjacent booth spaces in a row, equivalent to 100 linear feet, shall be allowed before a break of at least one open space is required. 01 3 Page Two 4) Prohibition of any on-street containers, trucks and/or trailers within the event limits except for rolling displays, theme rides and interactive displays as specifically ap- proved by the Contract Administrator. 5) No tents or awnings/ shade structures,with a maximum height of eight feet, shall be placed in front of entrances to businesses open during the event. 6) Vendor booth backdrops and solid vertical displays are to have maximum dimen- sions of six feet high by ten feet long, unless specifically approved by the Contract Ad- ministrator. 7) Event "theme" displays, including live entertainment venues and related attractions, shall be assigned to a minimum of sixty percent of the available curb frontage along both sides of the street in each block of the event street closure, with the remainder of 40% available for vendor booths. 8) Vendor mix will be restricted to the following categories: 1) food and beverage; 2) jewelry and jewelry related accessories; 3) arts and crafts; and 4) event specific or event themed merchandise. In order to achieve balance in the event, a maximum ven- dor type mix of not more than 25% of each vendor category will be allowed throughout the event. 9) Retail vendors are to comply as follows: 1) clothing shall not be allowed except for event specific specialty items and accessories; 2) jewelry shall be strictly limited to event theme pieces only; and 3) all vendors shall follow common sense guidelines of "good taste", suitable for a balanced demographic attendance. This will be deter- mined by the Contract Administrator. 10) With the exception of downtown businesses who have event vendor booths di- rectly in front of their own store, retail and food vendors shall be placed more than one hundred feet away from downtown retail stores or restaurants that offer compet- ing merchandise or food for sale. 11) Priority consideration shall be given to downtown businesses as event vendors, and they shall be given discounted space rental rates relative to other vendor space rentals by category. 12) Wood burning and other similar large barbecue food vendors which generate smoke that travels beyond their own booth space and is offensive to nearby vendors and/or businesses will not be permitted in the event. 13) All vendors will be required to post their Business License for the event at alb times for convenient review by the Event Marshall. Page Three 14) At least three weeks prior to the event, the promoter is required to submit to the Contract Administrator: 1) an accurate, scaleable event venue and vendor layout map in a standardized scale and format acceptable to the City Engineer; 2) a complete pro- posed vendor list; 3) a complete listing and description of all merchandise or food to be sold by each proposed vendor; and 4) completed event application form and color photographs of each proposed vendor booth. This information shall be reviewed by the Contract Administrator with the MainStreet Board of Directors, or a subcommittee of the Board, at least two weeks before the event to allow for final adjustments and re- finements. Where possible, some flexibility in these requirements may be granted by the Contract Administrator. • Other Event Requirements 1) At the outset of the application process, each event promoter shall be required to clearly and concisely define the "Event Theme" which will influence event layout and promotion. 2) Event promoters shall be encouraged to include existing downtown/ MainStreet promotional materials, such as flyers and brochures, in their event literature and/or "goodie bags". 3) In response to a street closure, promoters shall attempt to re-route vehicular traffic impacts to the east of downtown rather than to the west of downtown. 4) Restrictions regarding the sale of alcoholic beverages within any event are to be approved and monitored by the California Alcoholic Beverage Control Department. MINUTE ORDER NO. APPROVING AND ADOPTING THE "MAINSTREET PRO- POSED STANDARDS FOR SPECIAL EVENT STREET CLOSURES" REGARDING MULTI DAY CLOSURES OF PALM CANYON DRIVE AND OTHER CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT STREETS FOR SPECIAL EVENTS. ----------------------------------------------------- I HEREBY CERTIFY that this Minute Order, approving and adopting the "MainStreet Proposed Standards for Special Event Street Closures" within the Central Busi- ness District was adopted by the City Council of the City of Palm Springs, Califor- nia in a meeting thereof held on the 15th day of September, 2004. BY: PATRICIA A. SANDERS City Clerk