Columbia City approves one-block Family Safety Festival street closing, debates block-based permit fee

The Columbia City Board of Works and Safety on Feb. 24 approved a street-closing permit for the Family Safety Festival limited to the 100 block of West, and members discussed creating a block-based fee schedule to help offset city costs for policing, sanitation and barricades.

“One block, that 100 block of West … so it will still leave the street open,” a board member said, adding that the festival footprint was reduced after discussions with downtown businesses and staff. The same speaker said they had worked with their assistant, Ashley, to “condense the family safety festival to that one block.”

Members debated how to structure a fee that recovers some city costs without discouraging small events. One board member proposed a simple per-block approach as an easy administrative model: “If they do another block, it’s 40 bucks,” a participant suggested during the fee discussion. Board members flagged additional costs such as restroom servicing, barricade wear and police staffing; several said Columbia City Connect has reimbursed the city for some event costs in the past.

The board discussed exceptions for large, long-running events such as Old Settlers Day and considered setting a per-block fee that scales by number of blocks closed. No formal fee ordinance was adopted at the meeting; the board approved the festival street closing itself by motion and left fee structure details for further staff work and ordinance drafting.

Provenance: Discussion begins at SEG 127 and continues through SEG 405.