It is understandable why the Business Improvement District (BID) Board of Directors would want to have input when a special event is planned for downtown Monroe.
The businesses in BID can be disrupted when streets are closed to traffic because of special events. Thriving businesses are critical to the future of Monroe's downtown Square. It is in the best interest of the City of Monroe to consider the impact on downtown businesses when it decides on special event permits.
However, it is an equally important point that downtown businesses can benefit from special events that bring people - potential customers - to the Square. Festivals can bring people to the downtown that otherwise wouldn't be there. Some of them may even visit businesses around the Square while there.
The BID board last week voted to send a letter to the city, requesting that it be notified when there is a request for a special events permit downtown. Board President Sherrill Kelly said the letter would request that the city's application process include a requirement that permit applicants notify BID.
It is not an unreasonable request, and the city should include BID in the process because of its stake in permit decisions. However, it is important for BID's role to be advisory only.
Kelly said the board is not seeking to have the authority to approve or deny event permits. Businesses should not have that authority.
It is difficult to ignore the coincidence in the timing of this request after recent discussion about Monroe Main Street's Cinco de Mayo event on the Square. Alderman Jan Lefevre opposed a special permit for the event, sparking some controversy with one of her objections, which was that a Cinco de Mayo celebration might draw attention to the national debate of illegal immigration.
Hopefully, BID would not use its input on permit applications to try to block events it didn't feel were "appropriate" for the downtown. Instead, its focus should be on the impacts events would have on businesses, and on safety issues. An argument Lefevre made against Cinco de Mayo which had some merit was that toilet facilities weren't provided for festival-goers. That would be considered a safety issue, a legitimate one for BID to bring up in future requests.
Objections about the impact on businesses wouldn't be as clear-cut, however. Kelly said objections may come most often when too much of the Square is shut down for a small event. The Cinco de Mayo event drew only about 100 people but had streets on the Square closed to traffic.
But how large must a festival be before it is big enough to merit shutting down the Square? There may be no precise figure. And the city and BID should be careful not to thwart the potential growth of new festivals, such as Cinco de Mayo. While the first two celebrations have drawn only about 100 people each year, it may be grow in size if given time.
BID has every right to have a voice in downtown events, and the city should grant it. But BID deserves a voice only, and not a vote or a veto. That authority should rest only with the city.
The businesses in BID can be disrupted when streets are closed to traffic because of special events. Thriving businesses are critical to the future of Monroe's downtown Square. It is in the best interest of the City of Monroe to consider the impact on downtown businesses when it decides on special event permits.
However, it is an equally important point that downtown businesses can benefit from special events that bring people - potential customers - to the Square. Festivals can bring people to the downtown that otherwise wouldn't be there. Some of them may even visit businesses around the Square while there.
The BID board last week voted to send a letter to the city, requesting that it be notified when there is a request for a special events permit downtown. Board President Sherrill Kelly said the letter would request that the city's application process include a requirement that permit applicants notify BID.
It is not an unreasonable request, and the city should include BID in the process because of its stake in permit decisions. However, it is important for BID's role to be advisory only.
Kelly said the board is not seeking to have the authority to approve or deny event permits. Businesses should not have that authority.
It is difficult to ignore the coincidence in the timing of this request after recent discussion about Monroe Main Street's Cinco de Mayo event on the Square. Alderman Jan Lefevre opposed a special permit for the event, sparking some controversy with one of her objections, which was that a Cinco de Mayo celebration might draw attention to the national debate of illegal immigration.
Hopefully, BID would not use its input on permit applications to try to block events it didn't feel were "appropriate" for the downtown. Instead, its focus should be on the impacts events would have on businesses, and on safety issues. An argument Lefevre made against Cinco de Mayo which had some merit was that toilet facilities weren't provided for festival-goers. That would be considered a safety issue, a legitimate one for BID to bring up in future requests.
Objections about the impact on businesses wouldn't be as clear-cut, however. Kelly said objections may come most often when too much of the Square is shut down for a small event. The Cinco de Mayo event drew only about 100 people but had streets on the Square closed to traffic.
But how large must a festival be before it is big enough to merit shutting down the Square? There may be no precise figure. And the city and BID should be careful not to thwart the potential growth of new festivals, such as Cinco de Mayo. While the first two celebrations have drawn only about 100 people each year, it may be grow in size if given time.
BID has every right to have a voice in downtown events, and the city should grant it. But BID deserves a voice only, and not a vote or a veto. That authority should rest only with the city.
