Dixon council approves Party Plaza use rules, sets $450 recovery fee and $552 deposit

The Dixon City Council adopted a Party Plaza use policy on Sept. 22 that sets rules and a fee schedule for the downtown plaza, aiming to keep the site open to the public while allowing managed reservations for events.

Staff told council the plaza was designed as a public gathering place and lacks a prior formal fee or use policy, which created inconsistent staff impacts. The presenter said the policy sets a base daily recovery fee of $450 to reflect staff overtime and an accompanying refundable deposit of $552 to match other facility deposits. "So the use is daily. If there is a 3 hour event, then we would open up the rest of the day to anybody else who would want to rent it. However, they would still be paying $450 because that equates to the staff effects, impacts," the presenter explained.

The policy designates a specific zone for food trucks, reserves four parking spaces near the stage for loading/unloading and includes requirements for portable toilets, trash receptacles and a check‑in/check‑out procedure. Council and staff discussed signage rules, walk‑throughs for safety and whether ticketed elements of events (for example parts of a wine stroll) would remain open to the public; staff said portions of some events that take place at the plaza have been free and open. Council adopted the resolution by roll call (three ayes).