Naples council denies private ‘Cars on Fifth’ evening dinner over downtown impacts

Naples City Council unanimously voted Nov. 5 to deny an application for a private “Cars on Fifth” evening dinner that would have closed a portion of 5th Street South for a ticketed long‑table dinner and supercar display.

The event organizer, Tom O'Riordan, told council the idea grew from a sponsor request to host an awards dinner and display high‑end vehicles on the street. Police Lieutenant O’Reilly said the security plan met staffing needs and that additional officers would be paid for by the organizer. Council members, however, raised concerns about the event’s private, for‑profit nature and the precedent of closing downtown streets at night.

“I’ll make a motion to deny this,” Councilmember Kramer said before making the motion; Councilmember Petronoff seconded. The clerk recorded a unanimous vote to deny.

Opponents, including Councilmember Kramer and others, questioned the benefit to the city and the potential harm to local businesses that would be cut off by the street closure during the high tourist season. Organizers said proceeds would support charities such as Habitat for Humanity and that the event series historically generated multi‑event gross revenues, but did not provide a current net estimate.

The denial followed questions about the event footprint, buffer zones for vehicle displays and whether the public benefits of the closure outweighed disruptions to downtown merchants. Council members instructed staff to continue reviewing event policies for downtown closures and to seek solutions that avoid setting an unwanted precedent for private, profit‑making events on city streets.

The council’s formal motion to deny was made on the record and passed unanimously; organizers thanked the council for hearing the application.