Revere commissioners table Fiesta Shows carnival application after officials raise safety, contamination concerns

The Revere License Commission on an oral motion tabled an application from Dean & Flynn Inc., doing business as Fiesta Shows, for a weeklong carnival at property near 649 Squire Road after council and public-safety officials said safety questions remained unresolved. The motion to table gives the applicant time to revise the event plan and address concerns, commissioners said.

The matter drew opposition from Councilor Anthony Cargliandra, who said residents and public-safety officials were “against them hosting this there” because the site is “one of the busiest areas of our city” and would add traffic problems. “I'm not in favor of this location,” Cargliandra said during the hearing.

John Flynn, vice president of Dean & Flynn Inc., said the event would be smaller than past Revere carnivals and would emphasize children’s rides. He said the applicant had obtained property-owner permission, planned private security, bag checks and a single controlled entrance with metal detectors and would comply with any police detail requirements. “We have our own private security that will be on the gates…Everybody coming into the event will be checked,” Flynn said.

Deputy Chief Paul Cheever of the fire department raised multiple site-safety and emergency-egress concerns after reviewing the submitted emergency plan. Cheever said the plan appeared to be an abbreviated four-page excerpt rather than the more detailed document previously required, that the event layout showed only a single gate despite prior requirements for multiple emergency gates, and that the property still shows remnants of the former building foundation. He also said the location was a “21E site” after a prior fire and noted there had not been a completed 21E review to clarify whether soil contamination remained. “There hasn't been a 21E done on the site to clarify whether there's still some contamination in the soil,” Cheever said.

Captain Thomas Malone, speaking for the Revere Police Department, said the department also opposed the location (not Fiesta Shows) because the parcel is surrounded by residences, adjacent roadways such as Brown Circle and Ward Street are poorly lit and heavily traveled, and existing nearby traffic and construction already strain police resources. He said the former Showcase Cinema location used for carnivals was a contained, standalone lot and required a specific staffing plan; the proposed site lacks comparable containment and off-site parking agreements. “This location is not like the locations we've had previously,” Malone said. “We're gonna end up seeing people…parking on the opposite side of Squire Road.”

Fire and police officials asked for a more complete emergency plan that shows all egress points, clarifies where event attendees would exit, and explains how adjacent businesses’ operations and parking would be coordinated during the event. Commissioners also voiced concern about pedestrian safety where patrons might cross busy, unmarked roadways.

After hearing the officials’ concerns and the applicant’s responses, a commissioner said public-safety officials had “pretty much laid it out” and moved “that we not approve this.” The applicant asked instead to revise and resubmit a more detailed plan; the commission agreed to table the application to allow the applicant to return with an updated emergency/egress plan and documentation addressing the 21E question and parking arrangements.

The tabled status means no license was issued at the hearing; commissioners asked the applicant to return with an amended plan and any required environmental-clearance documentation before the commission would consider approval.