Street closure rules remain open to question

On Easter weekend, the Sarasota National Art Festival closed a portion of Hillview Street between Osprey Avenue and Laurent Place over a three-day stretch.

The event, which impacted just one side of the street, gained approval from the city with signatures from three businesses. All three operate in office buildings that are not open on weekends, when the art festival itself was taking place.

Other businesses in the area were surprised to learn the event was happening on a major street in Southside Village. Gecko’s Grill & Pub manager Josue Gamboa didn’t know if the restaurant was negatively impacted, but the festival definitely caught people off guard.

“It just kind of happened without us knowing what was going on,” Gamboa said. “We just started noticing the tents going up.”

Eddie Morton, a member of the Southside Village Business Association who owns Morton’s Gourmet Market, echoed Gamboa’s comments. Even though the event was relatively small, he said the loss of 15 on-street parking spaces for a weekend affected the operations of restaurants in the district.

“Southside Village knew nothing about it.” — Eddie Morton

He said his problem wasn’t with the event itself, which benefits the Rotary Club of Sarasota. It was with the lack of communication from the organizers, who were moving an established event to a new location.

“Nobody bothered to ask the association,” Morton said. “Southside Village knew nothing about it.”

The confusion surrounding the Hillview art festival came on the heels of a wide-reaching City Commission discussion of special events regulations. One of the many topics touched on at that meeting was the process of obtaining street closures. After receiving a complaint regarding the festival from a Southside Village visitor, Commissioner Susan Chapman said the event highlighted flaws in the street closure approval system.

“They take signatures from every business, not just the businesses that would be open during the event,” Chapman said. “That allows people who are unaffected by the event to often outnumber the people who are affected.”

Although the City Commission has taken no direct action to adjust the street closure policy, multiple commissioners have signaled their desire to take a more comprehensive look at event regulations in the near future.

As it pertains to the Hillview street closure, the three businesses that approved the art festival were the only three that qualified as affected businesses, which must approve street closures by a two-thirds majority. Other businesses along that side of Hillview didn’t meet that standard because access to their parking area remained open. 

“I can tell you that’s been the rule for the 16 years that I’ve been doing events for the city,” said Toni Welicki, who helps coordinate the city’s special event permitting.

“That allows people who are unaffected by the event to often outnumber the people who are affected.” — Susan Chapman

Morton doesn’t believe there’s necessarily a problem with the city’s regulations. He said event promoters should reach out to neighboring businesses and come up with a strategy that works for all parties involved.

Morton said Southside Village hosts a number of events, including Hogs on Hillview, Giving Hunger the Blues and the Firehouse Chili Cook-Off. In those cases, businesses are given ample notice regarding the event, which allowed for better coordination.

Morton doesn’t hold the issues against the Rotary Club. Still, he reiterated his disappointment with the communication from the Naples-based art festival operator that coordinated the event.

“Nobody bothered to get any buy-in from anybody,” Morton said. “The promoter just ramrodded it through.”