Council approves Christmas on Main Street event with staff-ordered modifications to reduce business impacts

Porterville City Council approved a downtown Christmas fundraising event organized by Haven Dispensary and Food Link for Dec. 14, 2024, with a condition that city staff work with event organizers to address business access and traffic-safety concerns.

Event coordinator Camilla Carrera described plans for an annual downtown celebration including roughly 28 vendors (five pending), a Rawhide Express train, a children’s zone in Centennial Park and performances. She asked to close Main Street for the event and said organizers were willing to condense the footprint if necessary.

Council members voiced concerns that the proposed closure would block access to several downtown restaurants and the Elks Lodge, which had a concurrent event expected to draw about 100 people. Police and emergency-services staff said they could develop a traffic and safety plan similar to National Night Out that would use hard barriers and closed alleys and suggested routing or a condensed footprint that still incorporated Centennial Park. Chief Costello said a three-block plan had worked for events with comparable vendor counts.

Council directed staff to work with the organizer to modify the event footprint (including possible use of nearby parking lots and shifting the closure north toward Bank of America) and to finalize a safety/traffic plan. Council member Maestro made the motion to approve the event conditioned on staff working with the organizer; the motion passed unanimously, recorded as a 4-0 vote.