Carefree Truth

Issue #278, October 7, 2013

 

 

 

The application for renewal of the annual event permit for the Saturday morning Classic Car Shows held in front of Venues Cafe was originally part of the September Consent Agenda.  It contained dates when the car show would not be held due to street closures during some other scheduled events for the upcoming season.  The date of the Sonoran Arts League (SAL) show had not been included.  Also, Al Swanson, the organizer of the car shows, requested that he be allowed to post signs announcing his event at the corners of multiple arterial streets coming into town each week as part of the permit.  

 

 

 

The application was removed from the Consent Agenda to the add the SAL date and to address Mr. Swanson's request.  As that type of signage has never been permitted for events held by a single business, Mayor David Schwan suggested that Mr. Swanson remove that request from the permit application.

 

 

 

Jan Sevela, owner of the Sundial Garden Cafe, said he was in favor of the event but was opposed to closing the street.   The weekly car show ends at 10 AM, so the street closure doesn't effect most merchants, but he felt it had an adverse effect on his breakfast business, as customers coming from certain directions saw the street closure and went elsewhere.

 

 

 

Mayor Schwan said he understood Mr. Sevela's concern, but said the issue was one of public safety.  As there are sometimes as many as 30-50 cars participating, car owners often parallel park along the curb beside the Gardens when the normal parking spots are full, which is not allowed unless the street is closed for an official event.  He noted that while the show is in progress, people attending it wonder back and forth across the street viewing the cars and taking pictures.  In doing so, they are not paying attention to possible oncoming traffic on Easy Street, the main interior commercial road.

 

 

 

Mr. Swanson was "unclear" on the need for a permit, saying this is the 4th year he has been holding the car show, and last year was the first year a permit had been required.  He refused to withdraw his request for multiple directional signs, citing their use for events like Thunderbird, and wanted to know why he had to pay for a permit.  He denounced the safety concerns, saying that no one had come close to being injured.  He put 3 cones out last year but pushed them aside and opened the street again because of complaints from other businesses and residents.  

 

 

 

Mr. Swanson added, "The Sheriff's Department came by, turned on sirens and their lights to harass our customers because they were parked in the yellow zone.  Gary put up, or the Town put up, No Parking signs just for these customers."  "We create more activity, I think, in the town than most businesses.  We serve about 46,000 people a year."

 

 

 

Gary Neiss explained that historically, the Town receives comments from residents and other businesses.  As the event with Venues matured, there were more cars, and more cars meant more people gathering to see them.  When this peaks with large events, people congregated on the street are not looking at oncoming traffic.  Concerns were raised about the safety of the people standing in the middle of the street, as well as complaints about those people blocking traffic.   Since the public street was used for this growing special event, the street was closed.  

 

 

 

Mr. Swanson then claimed that the car shows are not a special event; they are just his customers.  Mr. Neiss replied that it is a special event in that the cars come up to be showcased, so it is not just Venues' typical customers.  "The point of the event and advertising is that this is a car show.  Come up here and showcase your car."

 

 

 

Mayor Schwan said the Town received complaints from citizens about cars doing burn outs.  Mr. Swanson acknowledged that, but said he put a stop to it.  The Mayor also said there were complaints from people who had tried to drive through and were harassed by some of the participants, who claimed it was "their street", and telling people to get their "expletive deleted" out of there.  Mr. Swanson said he'd never heard of that.  Mayor Schwan assured him, "I have, and I've heard it multiple times."  He added that the Town can issue a permit and the show can continue, parking cars where it is not normally legal, or if there is no permit, MCSO will enforce both pedestrian and parking rules.       

 

 

 

 

 

Mr. Swanson again accused the Town of harassing his show, to which Mayor Schwan replied, "Making sure cars are parked legally is not harassment."  Councilman Glenn Miller said he loves car shows just like anybody else.  "Again, it's all about safety and it's about liability, and that's all we're trying to do here." 

 

 

 

Jeff Bergman, co-owner of the Wild Holly Gallery with his wife Holly, felt is it not fair to close the street on Saturday mornings 20-25 weeks in a row.  It doesn't effect them because they are closed during the time of the car shows, but it is unfair to the Sundial Cafe.  He said it's not like it's 2 or 3 weekends a year, and added that this is not Manhattan or Scottsdale.  He's been to the car show, and felt the safety concerns could be solved, leaving the street open, if Mr. Swanson would hire a couple of security personnel to make sure people were not walking out into traffic.

 

 

 

Mr. Swanson continued to insist that it is not a special event, just his customers, and to say that he didn't believe an event permit should be required.  He said the Town is named in their insurance policy.  Councilman Miller countered that the special event permit ensures that a Certificate of Insurance is provided for the Town files, and added, "We wouldn't be doing our fiduciary responsibility if we didn't make sure the Town was covered." 

 

 

 

Mr. Swanson said, "We really don't want to close the street, and we don't see any need for it."  Mayor Schwan asked if he would agree that people wonder around in the street looking at the cars.  Mr. Swanson answered that people are in the street all the time, walking over to the Gardens and back.  Mayor Schwan clarified by asking, "Are people at your car shows walking around, taking pictures, and basically going to a car show without observing pedestrian safety precautions in the street?"  Mr. Swanson replied, "Again, I don't think it's an issue.  It's not material." 

 

 

 

The Mayor asked if he wanted to have an active street where people are wondering around distracted by a car show.  Mr. Swanson responded that if cars are parked on the other side, they can't control peoples' behavior.  When asked if he would be willing to hire security to monitor that behavior, as suggested by Mr. Bergman, Mr. Swanson replied, "No", and returned to his seat.  This response was questioned later in the meeting, and he said it would negate the profits from the Saturday morning breakfast buffets served by Venues during the event. 

 

 

 

Councilman Mike Farrar asked what liability would be to the Town if someone were injured.  Town attorney Mike Wright replied, "The Town would be named in the suit, along with others."  

 

 

 

Agreeing with Councilman John Crane, Vice Mayor Les Peterson stressed, that aside from liability, it's the safety of people.  The cars are beautiful, and people looking at them may not exercise the same caution they would normally.  He felt that safety is the first concern, even beyond liability or anything else.  He regretted that it might impact business but felt that people would become accustomed to the brief regular street closures on Saturday morning and realize they could access the Sundial Cafe via a different route.  In cases of inconvenience versus safety, he felt there was no comparison.

 

 

 

The Mayor summarized, "The problem is, they want to run a car show without closing the street, and there are people wondering around an active roadway."  He added that some have accosted those driving through when the street was not closed.  He thought that it was done well last year, and questioned why Mr. Swanson wished to change something that seemed to be working. 

 

 

 

Vice Mayor Peterson noted 3 points.  1. A permit is required for all events of this sort.  Without a permit, the Town would not allow it and would call the police on any merchant.  2. Cones are placed on the street.  He asked Mr. Neiss if would be possible to supply signage saying something to the effect of, "Special event.  Road passable but proceed with caution."  Mr. Neiss replied, "Absolutely."  3. Signs from major arteries are heavily restricted.  "We are not doing anything for you or against you that we wouldn't do for any other merchant."

 

 

 

A motion was made and passed unanimously to approve the permit with the addition of the SAL show date and the request for arterial signs removed. Staff was instructed to investigate providing 2 appropriate signs to accompany the cones letting drivers know that the street was open but advising them to proceed with caution, giving notice that safety is an issue.  Jan Sevela said that would solve his problem and he thought it was a great idea.           

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9w7nvDXfMo

 

 

Lyn Hitchon

 

 

 

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