Staff Report
PREPARED BY: MONICA RENN
Economic Vitality Manager
Reviewed by: Town Manager, Assistant Town Manager, Town Attorney, and Community Development
Director
110 E. Main Street Los Gatos, CA 95030 ● 408-354-6832
www.losgatosca.gov
TOWN OF LOS GATOS
TOWN COUNCIL REPORT
MEETING DATE: 01/16/18
ITEM NO: 16
DATE: DECEMBER 27, 2017
TO: TOWN COUNCIL
FROM: LAUREL PREVETTI, TOWN MANAGER
SUBJECT: REVIEW AND DISCUSS SPECIAL EVENTS IN GENERAL, AND PROVIDE DIRECTION
ON TOWN FUNDING, IN-KIND SERVICES, STREET CLOSURES, AND OTHER EVENT
RELATED MATTERS.
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff is recommending that the Town Council review and discuss special events in general, and
provide direction on Town funding, in-kind services, street closures, and other event related
matters.
BACKGROUND:
Since May 2017, the Town has been working to transition the management and processing of
special event permits to the Town Manager’s Office. This process has included benchmarking
with other jurisdictions and streamlining the Town’s own process, including the
recommendation of a Town Code Amendment (see separate agenda item on the proposed
Amendment) and a more inclusive and detailed special event permit application.
In addition to the research and transition, the summer and fall of 2017 also brought new
challenges and opportunities as the Town experienced three new or relocated events that
closed N. Santa Cruz Ave. These events varied in their activities, duration, coordinating agency,
and community feedback; however, all provided the prospect to learn about events and how
they may best fit within the Los Gatos community. Except when provided for by Council
direction, staff worked to recover the Town’s costs for resources provided for the events.
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SUBJECT: REVIEW AND DISCUSS SPECIAL EVENTS IN GENERAL, AND PROVIDE
DIRECTION ON TOWN FUNDING, IN-KIND SERVICES, STREET CLOSURES, AND
OTHER EVENT RELATED MATTERS.
December 27, 2017
S:\COUNCIL REPORTS\2018\01-16-18\16 - Town Events\Staff Report FINAL.docx
BACKGROUND (cont’d):
At the November 7, 2017 Town Council meeting, staff brought forward a Code Amendment to
Chapter 14 as it relates to special events. At this meeting and the following on November 21,
2017, the Town Council heard from community members about the costs and work that goes
into creating community events and their concerns around the Town being “cost recovery” for
Town incurred expenses. Thus, this discussion is before the Council at this time.
In early December, staff met with a group of special event organizers representing various
community groups in Los Gatos to discuss the proposed changes to Chapter 14 of the Town
Code regarding special events. Many of the concerns voiced at the meeting were more closely
linked with the Town’s guidelines and practices around special events, and had less to do with
the actual framework of the proposed Code provisions. Through this and other related
discussions, including summer event debriefs, staff has identified th at greatest concerns relate
to either funding or downtown street closures. These two main topics present a variety of
related issues for the Council to discuss, consider, and provide direction.
DISCUSSION:
Staff has divided this discussion into topic points below with considerations and details, and is
looking to gain the Council direction on each.
1. Discuss and consider if fees for materials or staff resources should be provided by the
Town.
Within the adopted budget for FY 2017/2018 the Council appropriated funds to be
provided to Town Events which include a 4th of July event, Screen on the Green
movie event, and Spring into Green (a sustainability and Earth Day related event).
An additional $6,000 allotment was granted to Music in the Park for a summer
concert series coordinated by a contracted vendor.
In addition to budget line items, the Town earmarked within the in-kind services and
expenses of the budget, the services provided by Town staff at the Annual Children’s
Holiday Parade ($25,000) and the Holiday Tree Lighting ($1,600). These are
estimated amounts to cover just the staffing costs provided for these events.
Aside from these allotments, no other funds have been approved specifically for
community special events. The Town is currently under contract with a vendor to
perform a comprehensive review of the Town’s fee schedule which will help the
Council and staff better understand which services have potentially been
unintentionally subsidized in the past. This review presents an opportunity for the
PAGE 3 OF 8
SUBJECT: REVIEW AND DISCUSS SPECIAL EVENTS IN GENERAL, AND PROVIDE
DIRECTION ON TOWN FUNDING, IN-KIND SERVICES, STREET CLOSURES, AND
OTHER EVENT RELATED MATTERS.
December 27, 2017
S:\COUNCIL REPORTS\2018\01-16-18\16 - Town Events\Staff Report FINAL.docx
DISCUSSION (cont’d):
Town to consider if there are different fees or fee structures that may be offered to
provide consistency across all events.
Staff has begun to identify the fees that are not readily available within the special
event application package and will include these to allow for greater transparency
and improved customer service.
If there are in-kind services or fee subsidies that the Council would like to provide to
community events, these should be identified by the Council and staff can work to
include them in the upcoming budget proposal for FY 2018/2019.
Special Event Grants
Much like the community grants awarded to Los Gatos community service providers
and arts organizations, the Town Council could set aside dollars and implement a
program for special event organizers to apply for grant funding. If the Council would
like to provide funding assistance in this format, staff could come back with budget
suggestions on how this could be funded, and would need clear Council direction on
the total amount of grant funding that is desired for this expenditure, along with
criteria for the grant award process. Staff would then return for Council action at
the February 20, 2018 meeting in conjunction with Strategic Priorities and FY
2018/19 budget direction. This way, the Council could consider this budgetary
expenditure in light of other Council object ives.
Town Equipment, Supplies, and Infrastructure
Historically, the Town has allowed the use of barricades, light towers, and other
Town equipment to event organizers for use during their events, and typically at no
cost. This can become problematic when equipment is damaged or not available for
immediate use when needed for official Town business. More recently, staff has
been requiring that event coordinators supply their own equipment to preserve the
Town’s equipment and ensure its availability for use by the Town. Staff has found
that this is consistent with other local jurisdictions and would recommend that event
organizers be responsible for securing and storing their own event equipment .
Alternatively, fees or deposits could be assessed for the rental of specific Town
equipment, and the Town would continue to include the condition that pertains to
the liability for any damage to Town property.
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SUBJECT: REVIEW AND DISCUSS SPECIAL EVENTS IN GENERAL, AND PROVIDE
DIRECTION ON TOWN FUNDING, IN-KIND SERVICES, STREET CLOSURES, AND
OTHER EVENT RELATED MATTERS.
December 27, 2017
S:\COUNCIL REPORTS\2018\01-16-18\16 - Town Events\Staff Report FINAL.docx
DISCUSSION (cont’d):
Staff Resources Provided at Events
Staff carefully evaluates each proposed event to determine the appropriate level of
security needed based on anticipated attendance, availability of alcoholic beverages,
and other factors. When appropriate, event organizers may obtain their own
security, given approval by the Chief of Police is obtained, as was done for Fiesta de
Artes. Additionally, for large scale events, the Chief of Police may determine that
Town Officers should be present and paid for by the event. Given the Department’s
lean staffing, this typically requires overtime and scheduling arrangements in
advance in order for the Department to continue to provide primary patrol services
to the rest of the Town.
A longstanding condition of special event permits is the required clean up afte r an
event. The condition indicates that if the event site is not cleaned to the satisfaction
of the Town, then Town staff will perform the required maintenance and the event
organizers must pay those costs. While the Town is reimbursed, the impact of
unplanned maintenance work affects the ability of Town staff to be able to perform
their regular, scheduled assignments because of limited staff resources.
Therefore, even with cost recovery, events that deviate from agreed upon
procedures may result in the unintended consequence of spreading Town staff too
thin. The Town does not have a sufficient surplus of staff that is readily available to
work above and beyond the assigned hours and scope. Adding an extra assignment
of working at special events outside of normal Town duties is not always feasible.
In an effort to help event organizers with non-police related duties, staff has been
encouraging event organizers to recruit an ample number of volunteers, train them,
and have them in recognizable attire to provide crowd control, clean-up efforts, and
other similar tasks.
Parking
The issue of parking typically presents itself when an event is held near downtown,
although this issue could apply at multiple locations. Event organizers often request
to have the monitoring of and ticketing for timed parking suspended during events
to allow for event goers to come early and stay longer than the event to patronize
local merchants. Staff works with event organizers to encourage their event
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SUBJECT: REVIEW AND DISCUSS SPECIAL EVENTS IN GENERAL, AND PROVIDE
DIRECTION ON TOWN FUNDING, IN-KIND SERVICES, STREET CLOSURES, AND
OTHER EVENT RELATED MATTERS.
December 27, 2017
S:\COUNCIL REPORTS\2018\01-16-18\16 - Town Events\Staff Report FINAL.docx
DISCUSSION (cont’d):
participants to use alternative transportation to avoid the need to move their car
during the event including taxi services or biking/walking. The Bicycle and
Pedestrian Advisory Committee has started offering bike valet at some events to
help alleviate the need to park or move cars. Staff is recommending that the Council
discuss and provide direction on the idea of allowing unlimited parking in specific
public parking lots (excluding residential areas) when special events are taking place.
2. Discuss and consider the closure of North Santa Cruz Avenue for the purpose of special
events.
For the first time in decades, the Town piloted multiple closures of N. Santa Cruz Ave.
during the summer and fall of 2017 for special events. N. Santa Cruz Ave. was closed in
July for the Town’s Red, White and Blue Block Party, for two days in August for the
Kiwanis’ Fiesta de Artes event, and in September for the Chamber of Commerce’s Eat,
Drink Los Gatos event. Each event was different in the scope, duration, and event
activities, though highlighted some of the same concerns. Through these ev ents, staff
identified the following items for the Council to consider:
Traffic
The closure of N. Santa Cruz Ave. impacts traffic throughout Town as routes are
diverted to get into and out of downtown. The Town is greatly impacted by summer
cut through traffic and as a result has felt a shift in how/when residents and visitors
access downtown to shop and dine. When the closure takes place during the
summer months, the backup intensifies as there is the addition of the cut through
traffic trying to move through Los Gatos.
This summer the closing of N. Santa Cruz Ave. for events was an attempt to draw
residents and visitors into downtown to support the local economy and the non-
profits providing the event. The events were perceived to have a varying level of
success for the stakeholders, and may have created more congestion. Beyond the
immediate impact, there may be more difficult to measure and long-term benefits
to the downtown through those visitors whom may have discovered new places to
shop and dine, and returned on another date to patronizes the businesses.
It is staff’s opinion that event traffic would be exponentially more congested if
Wood Road were to remain open while N. Santa Cruz Ave is closed because portions
of the beach traffic would no longer be diverted and would end up backing up into
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SUBJECT: REVIEW AND DISCUSS SPECIAL EVENTS IN GENERAL, AND PROVIDE
DIRECTION ON TOWN FUNDING, IN-KIND SERVICES, STREET CLOSURES, AND
OTHER EVENT RELATED MATTERS.
December 27, 2017
S:\COUNCIL REPORTS\2018\01-16-18\16 - Town Events\Staff Report FINAL.docx
DISCUSSION (cont’d):
the residential areas surrounding N. Santa Cruz Avenue. Staff would not
recommend allowing the closure of N. Santa Cruz Ave. during the summer without a
closure in place at Wood Road.
Traffic Plan for Closures
Considerable effort by event organizers and Town staff went into each closure of N.
Santa Cruz Ave. Should events continue to take place on N. Santa Cruz Avenue,
based on the experiences this summer, staff recommends implementing a standard
procedure and single fee for closing the road. This would include a standard closure
area on N. Santa Cruz Ave. that does not exceed the area between Bachman Ave. to
Main St. (with the exception of the parade, and short closures for bike/run races
that have a path of travel). Events on N. Santa Cruz Ave. must be completely
contained within this street closure to provide access around the events and limit
pedestrian spill over onto open roadways. This means that the events held on N.
Santa Cruz would not be permitted to also use any portions of Main Street,
Montebello Way, or Town Plaza Park.
Events using a Main Street closure must be contained between University Ave and
N. Santa Cruz Ave. These events could include Town Plaza Park and may close
Montebello Way and the portion of Broadway that is on the south end of Plaza Park.
Such events could not include the closure of any portion of N. or S. Santa Cruz Ave.
to allow appropriate vehicular access.
Staff recommends that the fee schedule include a set fee for each road closure that
would include a traffic plan, equipment and a contractor to implement the
closure. Staff has done preliminary research and believe the cost to close this
portion of N. Santa Cruz Ave would be approximately $3,500 -$4,000 inclusive of
materials and staff/contractor costs. The Town would contract for this service to
ensure standards are met.
Staff is working to estimate an appropriate fee for closing Main Street and another
for Montebello Way/Broadway for consideration with the proposed updated Fee
Schedule.
Notification
When events and road closures take place downtown, a broader range of residents
and businesses are affected by the change in traffic patterns and thus staff has been
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SUBJECT: REVIEW AND DISCUSS SPECIAL EVENTS IN GENERAL, AND PROVIDE
DIRECTION ON TOWN FUNDING, IN-KIND SERVICES, STREET CLOSURES, AND
OTHER EVENT RELATED MATTERS.
December 27, 2017
S:\COUNCIL REPORTS\2018\01-16-18\16 - Town Events\Staff Report FINAL.docx
DISCUSSION (cont’d):
requiring more robust notification. Following each event, staff heard feedback that
businesses were negatively impacted by the closure. Although it can be argued that
events provide exposure to the Town, many businesses that rely on appointments,
reservations, and quick customer service mentioned a decline during special events.
Unless the Council has thoughts otherwise, staff would continue with this more
expansive requirement.
Vendors
Vendor type and location during an event has been a topic that the Town heard
feedback on following each event. To meet County Fire requirements, all temporary
tents, tables, and structures must abut the curbs and sidewalks creating a wall in
front of many merchants. Other jurisdictions provide guidelines on the type of
vendors that are allowed within a business shopping district and where these
vendors and other tents may locate during events in shopping areas; this may be an
area of discussion for the Council to consider.
Number of N. Santa Cruz Ave. Closures Per Year
Considering the impact to the community, effort involved with a safe closure, and
other considerations, staff recommends that closures of N. Santa Cruz Ave. be
limited to a fixed number per year and not allow them to span for more than one
calendar day due to impacts to brick and mortar businesses and security concerns.
A starting point for this discussion could be a limit of four times per year, with the
Children’s Holiday Parade counting as one of the four. If this recommendation is
agreeable to the Council, the staff would appreciate direction on criteria for
processing and approving any remaining events that request the closure of N. Santa
Cruz Ave.
Based on the Town’s two years of experience with its Spring into Green event, the
closure of Main Street between N. Santa Cruz Ave. and University Ave. is less
impactful. Similarly, events utilizing Town Plaza Park and the surrounding closure of
Montebello and Broadway are relatively easy to manage. For these reasons, staff is
not recommending a limited number of closures for these street segments.
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SUBJECT: REVIEW AND DISCUSS SPECIAL EVENTS IN GENERAL, AND PROVIDE
DIRECTION ON TOWN FUNDING, IN-KIND SERVICES, STREET CLOSURES, AND
OTHER EVENT RELATED MATTERS.
December 27, 2017
S:\COUNCIL REPORTS\2018\01-16-18\16 - Town Events\Staff Report FINAL.docx
CONCLUSION:
Staff is recommending that the Town Council review and discuss special events in general, and
provide direction on Town funding, in-kind services, street closures, and other event related
matters. Through this discussion and the proposed framework provided by the Town Code,
staff looks forward to clarifying the special event permit process so that special event
organizers have clear guidelines, a streamlined process, and appreciation from the Town for
offering events. Council’s direction is helpful, recognizing that staff will continue to work with
event applicants throughout the permit process to adapt to new circumstances.
ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT:
It has been determined that there is no possibility that this project will have a significant impact
on the environment; therefore, the project is not subject to the California Environmental
Quality Act (Section 15061 (b)(3)).
COORDINATION:
The preparation of this report was completed by the Town Manager, Town Attorney, Interim
Police Chief, Director of Parks and Public Works, Economic Vitality Manager, and Event and
Marketing Specialist.
FISCAL IMPACT:
Based on the direction of the Council, fiscal impacts may be realized through the
implementation of grant funding, fee increases or decreases, and/or in-kind subsidies for
materials and services.