The Urban Districts Alliance wants to see more spirited events on the square, and it has turned to council for help.
After allowing one festival in 2011 and increasing the tally to five events last year, UDA has requested Springfield City Council approve an ordinance allowing up to eight events permitting alcohol sales and consumption in and around Park Central Square.
At the Jan. 28 council meeting, UDA Executive Director Rusty Worley said the popularity of the special events during the last two years has garnered interest from several nonprofits and other organizations. UDA accepts applications for festivals, Worley said, and the city approves event permits. Missouri Alcohol and Tobacco Control is the administrative body that issues picnic licenses for alcohol sales.
Worley said an expansion of Arts Fiesta’s Cinco de Mayo celebration, a Harley Davidson motorcycle owners group event in cooperation with the Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau, and a Wine Walk festival are three proposed events that could be added to the 2013 schedule should council approve the ordinance change. The current ordinance allows organizations to offer beer and wine for consumption no more than 12 hours a day and no more than three days in a week in the area bounded by Mill Street, Jefferson Avenue, Pershing Street and Campbell Avenue.
He said UDA has approached the topic by slowly introducing events with alcohol and by adding more if the community reaction was positive. Brad Erwin, president of Paragon Architecture Inc. and the 2012 chairman of The Network representing young professionals, said at a March 2012 council meeting that festivals with alcohol in a controlled environment are in high demand among the area’s professionals under the age of 40 because the social aspects help make Springfield a more attractive place to live and work. Erwin spoke when UDA last year advocated for the current allowance of five events.
“The strategy has been to walk before we run,” said Worley, the only speaker to address council at the Jan. 28 public hearing.
Following the meeting, Worley estimated nearly 20,000 people attended UDA-sanctioned events last year, with the most popular function, Taste of Springfield, drawing between 8,000 and 10,000 attendees downtown. The other events – the James River Basin Partnership Downtown Dam Jam, the Springfield Craft Beer Bash, the Birthplace of Route 66 Festival & Car Show, and the Do Good festival – attracted between 2,000 and 3,000 people on average.
“Each of them was a very solid event. They did a good job of laying them out in unique ways to fit their festivals. They had good partners, vendor booths and sponsors,” Worley said following the meeting, adding the June through October festivals all are returning in 2013.
Worley said there have not been any estimates of the economic impact on businesses, but the anecdotal feedback he’s received from downtown business owners has been supportive. “We’ve not had any complaints from businesses in the area about closing off the square, so I think everyone has seen these as being a positive for drawing new patrons downtown,” he said.
The ordinance modification is scheduled for a vote Feb. 11.
Commercial cleanup Council unanimously approved a conditional-use permit that would allow Reed’s Plumbing & Heating Inc. to erect a fence on the lot at 624 W. Commercial St., where it plans to house a fleet of service vehicles. Reed’s Plumbing is located across the street at 611 W. Commercial St.
At the Jan. 14 meeting, Murney Associates, Realtors broker Bart Collins said he was assisting in the sale of the nearly half-acre vacant parcel formerly occupied by Sonic Drive-In, which moved down the street 12 years ago. Collins said property owner Thomas Dunivant has wanted to sell the property since the Sonic move, but Reed’s Plumbing owner Herb Reed has been the first person to express interest.
To comply with zoning rules on Commercial Street, Reed sought a conditional-use permit to build a fence and keep vehicles on the property Collins said is a frequent hangout for drug users and transients.
Councilman Jeff Seifried said in recent weeks he’s observed police officers moving off the lot those who had gathered.
“It is an eye sore,” Seifried said, adding that while this wasn’t a glamorous use of the property, the fact that the owner is willing to clean it up is welcome news.
Liquor licensing Springfield Planning and Development Director Ralph Rognstad introduced a bill that would modify the rules pertaining to retail liquor licenses for applicants near residential neighborhoods.
Currently, the city declines applications if 50 percent of neighbors within 200 feet of the applicant’s establishment object to the proposed alcohol sales, according to Rognstad. He said city staff is requesting a change to its procedural guidelines because they appear to violate state law. Under the proposed change, council members would no longer automatically deny the applications under objection but would give applicants a public hearing.
The bill was amended to lengthen the time neighbors could respond to a public notice of application to 21 days from 15 days.
“I want there to be an opportunity to object,” said Councilwoman Cindy Rushefsky, who proposed the amendment.
This installment of Springfield Business Journal’s Architects & Engineers Project Report showcases 26 endeavors by area design and engineering professionals.
