As evidenced by the complaints from Ketchum business owners regarding the location of the 48 Straight music pavilion during the past two years, the city's special events code could use some work.
Ketchum Associate Planner Mark Goodman was clearly listening as he, along with other city staff members, is in the midst of creating a solution, the beginnings of which he presented at an informal public meeting Wednesday.
"We're experiencing an influx of special events that are different from what we had 10 years ago, such as 48 Straight and the Fourth on Fourth Celebration," Goodman said to a crowd of around 15, including many business owners in downtown Ketchum. "The current code struggles with these kinds of events."
More specifically, the existing code "treats all events the same, whether big or small," and includes "insufficient noticing requirements that leave neighboring properties in the dark," as written in Goodman's introduction to the proposed amendments.
In order to rectify these and other problems, the Planning and Police departments have spent the past two months working on a new section to the code that would take into account both the variety of events and where they occur.
Specifically, it would designate "Festival Areas," in which there are likely to be a high frequency of special events. These would include the entire length of Fourth Street, the portion of Picabo Street between Skiway Drive and Gates Road, and Town Plaza, the park directly south of Atkinsons'.
For these areas, events would be structured into three separate categories.
The first would be events of less than 300 people and do not require a street closure; events that require a street closure of one day at most or have an attendance over 300; and an event requiring a street closure for more than one day.
According to Goodman, by discerning between the events, the city can ensure the proper amount of notification, as well as adjust the timing of the application procedure to fit the size of the event.
Other conditions would include limitations on the duration of an event and the total number of events one applicant can hold in one year.
The application fee, currently $50 for all special events, would also increase with the larger events to more accurately reflect the amount of time spent by the staff processing the applications.
Concerns raised at Wednesday's meeting included devising a way of prioritizing annual events in case of a scheduling conflict with another applicant and utilizing a mass email list to ensure that neighboring business owners are noticed of an event as quickly as possible.
"These events are good for the city, but we need to make sure they work for everyone," Goodman said. "The larger events need both a wider and earlier notice."
The City Council was scheduled to hold a public workshop on the amendment last night after the newspaper went to print.
