Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Events Parking topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Council adopts special-event policy language and a revenue-sharing plan for parking; caps and vendor passes set for festivals
Summary
Council approved draft special-event criteria and a parking revenue-sharing approach that gives qualifying nonprofit applicants up to 50% of collected garage parking fees toward event costs, capped at $10,000 and not to exceed half of documented event costs.
Council moved forward with a special-event procedure for discounted fees and a parking revenue-sharing policy intended to support nonprofit events that use borough streets and parking assets.
The policy sets basic qualifying criteria for support: applicants should be nonprofit 501(c)(3) organizations (or equivalent), events should be open to the public and not restricted by age, and applicants should complete the borough's special-event application and obtain required permits. The council discussed an optional metric for "increasing awareness of Westchester" but agreed not to make the policy depend on a complex measurement; simple demonstrations of outreach (e.g., event listings, local press, social media promotion) were noted as sufficient evidence.
On parking, council approved language for a 50% split of applicable parking fees collected in borough garages to be made available to qualifying applicants to defray event costs, subject to limits: reimbursement will not exceed 50% of the event's documented costs and will be capped at $10,000 (whichever is lower). The policy requires itemized expense documentation from applicants and applies to garage revenue (with a goal to include surface-lot kiosk revenues once those systems are fully programmed by the Christmas parade timeframe).
Council also discussed operational details: vendors would receive one free parking pass per vendor, per prior practice for events; council acknowledged this reduces parking revenue but directed staff to finalize the implementation approach. The policy was returned in draft form to add final wording clarifying that use of the borough name or logo is at the borough's discretion and that any revenue-sharing is contingent on post-event accounting.
Council voted to move the draft language forward; members said final wording and caps would be included in the consolidated "Special Event and Special Event Parking Policy." The motion passed by roll-call vote with all members recorded as "Yes."
