Cotati City Council
Agenda Staff Report
Item type: CONSENT CALENDAR (ACTION)
To: City Council
Subject: 2023 Cotati Accordion Festival Public Parking Lot Use at 960 East Cotati Avenue on August 19 and August 20, 2023.
Date: July 25, 2023
Written by: Ashley Wilson, Recreation Manager
Recommendation
It is recommended that the City Council of the City of Cotati adopt a resolution approving the 2023 Cotati Accordion Festival Use of the Parking Lot Located at 960 East Cotati Avenue.
Background
The Annual Cotati Accordion Festival will be taking place on Saturday, August 19th, and Sunday, August 20th, 2023, in La Plaza Park. The event was approved by City Council on May 23, 2023.
The event coordinators have additionally requested the use of the City of Cotati owned gravel parking lot located at 960 East Cotati Avenue, next to the SMART station, for event parking.
Cotati Accordion Festival, Inc. has submitted a completed City of Cotati Park Use and Special Event Permit application along with sufficient descriptions of the event.
Analysis/Discussion
In previous years, the Cotati Accordion Festival has used multiple public and private spaces for event parking, including the park and ride lot located on the corner of Old Redwood Highway and Highway 116. Since the sale of that space, the CAF is no longer going to be able to access it for event parking. They have worked to find parking accommodations elsewhere, which has led to the request of using the City owned lot in the application. The intentions of having dedicated parking for the CAF are to make it convenient for guests to attend the event and to limit the amount of parking in other public areas for local businesses and their guests from event attendees.
The Cotati Accordion Festival has requested the following: 1) exclusive use of the gravel parking area located next to the SMART station located at 960 East Cotati Avenue, on August 19 and August 20, 2023.
The event in La Plaza Park takes place from 9:30am-8:00pm on Saturday, August 19 and Sunday, August 20. The CAF is requesting exclusive use of the parking lot from 8am-8pm each day.
As is done with the festival, the City will install “No Parking” signs in advance of the event in the lot and “Event Parking Only” signs will be up during the times that the CAF will have the lot permit.
The Cotati Accordion Festival has reviewed the insurance requirements and have indicated that they can provide adequate insurance. A Condition of Approval has been included which requires proof of insurance be supplied to the City before the event.
Financial Considerations
In accordance with the Park Use and Special Event Policy, applicable fees are as follows:
$50 – Special Event Application Fee
$250 – Special Event Daily Fee ($125 per day)
Special Event Refundable Security Deposit - $250
TOTAL FEES: $550
The applicant has requested fee waivers for this event. The Special Events and Park Permit Policy allows for non-profit groups to request a 50% fee waiver for fees associated with their event when no admission fees are charged. Although this event does charge admission fees, given that a 50% waiver was approved for the event permit fees approved on May 23, staff recommends that the 50% waiver request be approved for this permit request as well.
The event does bring visitation to the City and has potential to support local businesses.
Staff is expected to spend approximately 12 hours to process the application and for labor associated with setting up and taking down the parking signs. The adopted fees are intended, on average, to cover the costs of performing these activities, but it is important to also understand the true costs. The estimated staff costs are shown in Table 1.
Table 1.
Recreation Staff – 7 hours $714.00
Public Works Staff – 5 hours $875.00
Total Staff Costs $1,589.00
The proposed fees to be collected would be a fee of $150 (50% of the total $300) and a $250 refundable deposit to be collected and returned following the event if no unusual damage occurs or extra staff time is needed to return the lot to its original state.
Environmental Issues
This action is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) because it is not a project which has a potential for resulting in either a direct physical change in the environment, or a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment, pursuant to CEQA Guideline section 15378.