03-06-2018, 03:29 PM
The City of Waterloo amended their Public Nuisance and Property Standards bylaws on public gathering.
You can find the Council packet on the City website.
The City tried a St. Patrick's Day party in a tent a couple of years ago with little effect on the larger gathering. Last year, I believe that the Pub on King hosted a tent, but I can't recall whether it was as widely subscribed as hoped.
The Ezra Street gathering highlights the challenge of having public space that could be repurposed for gatherings (such as the Public Square). Other cities do have larger squares or parks where this could happen. If it were a different time of year, Waterloo Park could be a suitable place, and indeed it was tried next to Rink in the Park. When development is allowed to encroach on public space, or at the very least, be built in such a way that there is no possibility for public space to be expanded in the future, it limits where public gatherings, planned or otherwise, might be able to be hosted.
Looping back to Oktoberfest, when it launched, the organizers had the infrastructure of various service clubs that could be brought to bear to make sure that the various public gatherings were successful. It also meant that there was a mechanism to change and adapt over time. As the St. Patrick's Day parties are more a loose conglomeration, there is no "head" to talk to. I wonder if things had been different if the various "hosts" on Ezra had approached the City with a proposal to host (and also accept the liability for) a street party. Instead, the attitude that I am hearing in the press (filtered, I know), is, "We'll have our party and there is nothing that anyone can do about it." If instead, the attitude was, "We'll have our party and we have put various measures in place to ensure the safety of people and property, etc" then the attitude might have been different.
You can find the Council packet on the City website.
The City tried a St. Patrick's Day party in a tent a couple of years ago with little effect on the larger gathering. Last year, I believe that the Pub on King hosted a tent, but I can't recall whether it was as widely subscribed as hoped.
The Ezra Street gathering highlights the challenge of having public space that could be repurposed for gatherings (such as the Public Square). Other cities do have larger squares or parks where this could happen. If it were a different time of year, Waterloo Park could be a suitable place, and indeed it was tried next to Rink in the Park. When development is allowed to encroach on public space, or at the very least, be built in such a way that there is no possibility for public space to be expanded in the future, it limits where public gatherings, planned or otherwise, might be able to be hosted.
Looping back to Oktoberfest, when it launched, the organizers had the infrastructure of various service clubs that could be brought to bear to make sure that the various public gatherings were successful. It also meant that there was a mechanism to change and adapt over time. As the St. Patrick's Day parties are more a loose conglomeration, there is no "head" to talk to. I wonder if things had been different if the various "hosts" on Ezra had approached the City with a proposal to host (and also accept the liability for) a street party. Instead, the attitude that I am hearing in the press (filtered, I know), is, "We'll have our party and there is nothing that anyone can do about it." If instead, the attitude was, "We'll have our party and we have put various measures in place to ensure the safety of people and property, etc" then the attitude might have been different.