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Council approves downtown's Christmas in July fundraiser; authorizes road-closure permit application
Summary
The council approved Carl and Joanne Foundation's Christmas in July fundraiser for July 26'27, 2025, including a request to apply for road-closure permits from the Oakland County Road Commission; downtown business owners raised concerns about closures, traffic and trash.
The South Lyon City Council approved the Carl and Joanne Foundation's request to hold a Christmas in July fundraiser downtown on July 26'27, 2025, and authorized City Clerk Lisa Deaton to apply to the Oakland County Road Commission for the required road-closure permits.
Organizer Jeff Heineon requested a road closure of South Lafayette between McCatty Street and Liberty Street and a closure at Elm Place from 9 a.m. July 26 to 1:30 a.m. July 27 for event activities and cleanup. The council voted to approve the event application, hold-harmless agreement and authorization to apply for permits; an insurance certificate was listed as forthcoming in the event packet.
Several downtown business owners spoke during the meeting in support of the event and to urge the council to make the event more inclusive. David Barton (owner, Twisted Court Winery) and Austin White (owner, South Lyon Cycle) said the fundraiser draws visitors to downtown and supports the community. Shell station owner Sean Merza urged the council to limit the road closure where possible, and asked event organizers to increase the number of trash receptacles because his property was left heavily littered after a prior event.
Councilmembers and staff said event organizers had been in discussion with affected businesses. Councilmember Bogart noted concerns raised during public comment and asked whether organizers had spoken with property owners on the closed corridor; city staff and the organizer said conversations had occurred and they were working to include more businesses in the footprint. Public works staffer Jeff Archie was cited as coordinating barricades and detour signage; the council said Liberty Street would be a hard closure during part of the event but that access would be adjusted after the farmers market concluded.
The council voted on a motion to approve the application and to authorize the city clerk to submit the road-permit application to the Oakland County Road Commission. City Clerk Lisa Deaton conducted the roll-call vote; the motion passed.
The event packet included an event application, a hold-harmless agreement and an event diagram; the insurance certificate was listed as forthcoming. The council did not alter the dates and times requested in the application during the meeting.
