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Council approves recurring Fourth Friday downtown car show closures after business and safety concerns
Summary
The council approved monthly Fourth Friday street closures (May–Sept, excluding April) to host an expanded downtown car show. Chamber representatives and the organizer outlined logistics; residents raised concerns about full‑block closures, event hours and ADA access.
The Winters City Council on April 21 approved a request from the Chamber of Commerce to run a recurring Fourth Friday downtown car show May through September (excluding the April date), extending the event to include portions of East Main and railroad‑adjacent blocks on the fourth Friday of each month.
Chamber representatives and the car‑show organizer described the logistics: barriers placed beginning at 2 p.m. for setup, entrant check‑in around 5 p.m., an entrant cutoff after roughly 6:30–7 p.m., and event activity extending later into the evening. "Once they're all lined up, we have until, like, 06:30, 07:00, and then shut that gate down," organizer Andy Gomez said while describing check‑in and staging procedures.
Several residents expressed concern that closing the entire Main Street block for the fourth Friday, rather than the mid‑block closure used for other Fridays, would hurt some downtown businesses. One resident urged leaving half of Main Street open for access and asked for shorter hours, saying classic cars were still entering while families and children were walking through the event. The council also heard an accessibility concern that water barricade placement sometimes leaves insufficient room for wheelchairs and mobility devices.
Chamber speakers noted the car show expanded attendance and regional exposure after a spring trial and said the expanded closure goal was to spread activity to adjacent blocks so more businesses benefit. "There was so much more room and there was so much exposure," organizer Andy Gomez said, calling the spring event a success.
After discussion and public comment, a councilmember moved to approve the Fourth Friday closures for the season (May–September, excluding April); the motion was seconded and approved by voice vote. Council directed organizers to work with city staff and police on gate/cutoff procedures, staging safety and ADA placement of barricades.
The council's action authorized recurring street closures consistent with the described plan but left logistical details—precise barricade placement and cutoff enforcement—to staff and event organizers to finalize before the first scheduled May event.
