Consideration and Approval of Street Closure:  Flagstaff Earth Day

After years of holding the annual Earth Day celebration on the City Hall lawn, community members and vendors have requested that the Sustainability Program move the event downtown to give it more of a community feel. As a result, the Sustainability Program and Sustainability Commission would like to move the 2015 Earth Day event to Heritage Square.  In order to accommodate 55 vendors and an average of 1,500 participants we would like to propose an 8:00 am – 5:00 pm street closure for the one block of Aspen adjacent to Heritage Square (Leroux to San Francisco). The vendors in the street will sit back to back, allowing for two rows of tables along Aspen in order to keep the sidewalks clear and a 16-foot pathway down the middle of the street.  In an effort to ensure that Earth Day is a good fit for the downtown, Sustainability Program staff began outreach to downtown businesses and the Downtown Business Alliance in July 2014. Staff spoke to 30 businesses on Aspen, San Francisco, Leroux, and Heritage Square about the event. Responses ranged from enthusiastically in support of the event to neutral or supportive with concerns about competing vendors. Staff was able to address concerns by modifying the event. For example, businesses were concerned about competing food vendors and therefore, in an effort to increase traffic to surrounding restaurants, there will be no food vendors at this event.

By allowing the 2015 Earth Day event as an exception to the Special Event Permit Regulations regarding the full closure of Aspen Avenue (between San Francisco and Leroux Street), the City is providing a safe alternative location for a community event.

Subsidiary Decisions Points: No subsidiary decision points.

Street closures have the potential to change traffic patterns for local businesses.
 

 

COUNCIL GOALS: REGIONAL PLAN:
Transportation: Economic Development:

Other events have received this exception in the past.  This is the first time that the Flagstaff Earth Day event has asked for a street closure in the north downtown historic district.

Deny the request to close the proposed downtown streets.

• Pro: Closure of streets in the north downtown historic district have the potential to negatively impact business in this area.  By not allowing the closure, these north downtown businesses and residents could count on the ordinary flow of traffic and parking.
• Con: This has been a well-attended event when held on the front lawn of City Hall.  This event has the potential to bring participants into the north downtown historic district and increase retail and restaurant sales.

The 2015 Flagstaff Earth Day is organized by the Sustainability Program and Sustainability Commission. Now in its eighth year, Earth Day has proven to be a successful and well attended community event. Earth Day is an event that brings together local businesses and non-profits and provides a chance to educate the community regarding a wide range of environmental initiatives. In the past, the event has consistently drawn over 50 organizations educating the public as well as performances from several bands and a DJ. Earth Day 2014 kicked off with a successful community service filled-morning with 50 volunteers contributing 100 service hours to clean up 60 bags of litter. The event resulted in the collection of 39 car seats, 6 tons of paper, and 9,541 pounds of e-waste for recycling. As part of Earth Day 2015, the Sustainability Program will continue to provide electronics recycling drop-off, car seat recycling, and sensitive document disposal in the Wheeler Park parking lot. Additional activities include a community clean up, an educational workshops series, a reuse fashion show, childrens' crafts, face painting, and dancing. In past years Earth Day has been held on City Hall lawn and in the parking lot adjacent to City Hall. In response to requests from community members, the Sustainability Program and Sustainability Commission would like to move the 2015 Earth Day event to Heritage Square to better connect with the Flagstaff community. 

The current special event permit regulations do not allow for the full closure of one-way downtown streets. Deviations from the special event permit packet have been approved by City Council on a case-by-case basis. The Flagstaff Fire Department requires that there be a fire land and access to all hydrant and water hook-ups on the streets.

The Flagstaff Earth Day celebration draws approximately 1,500 residents and visitors to the downtown area. It generates business for Flagstaff shops and restaurants. The event regularly draws from both private and public sector and provides activities. Earth Day provides a fun and exciting atmosphere where community members can learn about and participate in different environmentally focused workshops, tables and projects.