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Strawberry Festival and downtown businesses clash over vendor layout; council hears split testimony
Summary
Festival organizers urged return to a center-of-street vendor layout citing community access and business benefits, while city staff and safety officials and some downtown businesses support curbside placement to preserve emergency access and clear sidewalks.
Members of the public, festival organizers and downtown business representatives addressed council during the audience-concerns portion of the meeting over a proposed city rule — now before council as an ordinance amendment governing festival layouts — that would favor placing vendor booths along the curb rather than down the center of Main Street.
Clarissa Ramey, speaking for the London Strawberry Festival, presented a revised event layout and safety packet and urged council not to codify a single “uniform” layout for every festival. Ramey said the festival’s preferred center-of-street setup offered two pedestrian corridors and encouraged foot traffic past storefronts; she provided sample vendor measurements and said typical booths are about…
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