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Board tables two Midtown Plaza festivals after public‑safety and access concerns
Summary
The board unanimously tabled permit requests for Dia de la Familia and the Chinese Mooncake Festival to allow public‑safety review and petitioner revisions; staff flagged potential vehicle access impacts to private property and event crowd size exceeded new safety thresholds.
The City of Carmel Board of Public Works and Safety on July 16 voted to table two permit applications for events proposed at Midtown Plaza — Dia de la Familia (Sept. 13) and the Chinese Mooncake Festival (Sept. 20) — after engineering and public‑safety staff raised concerns about road closures and crowding.
Engineering staff cautioned that closing Monon Boulevard northbound from Walnut could effectively cut off vehicle access to private properties north of the closure, a point Brad Pease, director of engineering, emphasized during discussion. Marketing and community relations staff provided a proposed closure footprint and said the fire department had approved the footprint "yesterday," but public‑safety leaders asked for more time to review the site under the city’s updated Special Events safety protocols.
Chief Drake Sterling of the Carmel Police Department told the board his team wanted "to take a little bit closer look" because the events could attract 2,000–3,000 people and the city’s protocols recommend moving very large events to alternate locations. The marketing representative, Melissa Hobson, said event times and closure details were still being finalized; she also provided a different time window for Dia de la Familia during the presentation (application listed 8 a.m.–7 p.m.; marketing mentioned 1 p.m.–5 p.m.).
Board members moved to table both permits to allow petitioners to revise their applications and give public‑safety staff two weeks to evaluate the footprint; the motion carried by unanimous voice vote. Petitioners and staff were directed to coordinate with private property owners affected by proposed detours and to supply updated plans when the items return to the board.
