STAFF REPORT
Meeting Date:
October 28, 2025
CONSENT
15 SUBJECT: KXFM OAK STREET HALLOWEEN EVENT – WAIVER OF CITY RESOURCE FEES; CEQA DETERMINATION
RECOMMENDATION: It is recommended that the City Council:
1. Confirm/Authorize the waiver of the application fee ($817) and city costs ($1,626) for this event; and
2. Find that the action of a fee waiver is exempt from California Environmental Quality Act pursuant to State CEQA guidelines section 15340(E)).
SUMMARY OF THE MATTER
The City received a request from KXFM Radio to temporarily close a portion of Oak Street (between Glenneyre Street and the first alley toward Pacific Coast Highway) on Thursday, October 30, 2025, from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., for a community Halloween event. While the City has historically supported the annual Oak Street Halloween Event, the proposed KXFM event is outside the scope of that regular Citysupported activity. To safely accommodate this event, the use of City resources is required, including Park Rangers, and Public Works support. City staff has administratively approved the Temporary Use Permit for this event, as discussed in more detail below, asks the City Council to approve the waiver of costs associated with the City resources deployed to safely manage the event.
DISCUSSION
The proposed KXFM Halloween event will take place one day prior to Halloween and is expected to draw a moderate level of pedestrian and vehicular activity along Oak Street. Given the location and timing of the event, the safe accommodation of both vehicles and pedestrians requires the deployment of City resources to ensure proper traffic control, emergency access, and overall public safety.
To safely manage the temporary street closure, the Police Department will coordinate overall traffic control and ensure emergency access is maintained throughout the duration of the event. Two large Public Works vehicles will be positioned, in coordination with Police Department staff, at each end of the closure area to block the street. These vehicles can be easily moved in the event of an emergency to allow for ingress or egress. Two Public Works maintenance employees will be assigned to staff the vehicles and assist with setup and breakdown of the closure, with an estimated on-site time of five hours, inclusive of pre-event preparation and post-event removal.
In addition, two Park Rangers will be stationed at the intersection of Glenneyre Street and Oak Street to provide pedestrian and traffic control at this critical location. Glenneyre Street will remain open to vehicular traffic, and due to the expected increase in pedestrian activity associated with Halloween, maintaining a visible City presence at this intersection is necessary to ensure safety for both pedestrians and motorists.
The total cost for staffing the event is estimated at $1,626.88.
KXFM OAK STREET HALLOWEEN EVENT – CONSIDERATION OF WAIVER OF CITY RESOURCE FEES; CEQA DETERMINATION
October 28, 2025
Following the adoption of the new Master Fee Schedule in mid-August 2025, the fee for a Temporary Use Permit (TUP) increased to $817. Recognizing that the City is in the process of developing a Special Event Permit framework to better address community and civic-based events, staff has been administratively waiving the TUP fee for events that are community-oriented, open to the public, and free of charge. This interim policy allows the City to equitably support civic activities while the new permit system is under development and pending Council consideration.
In keeping with that approach, staff has administratively approved and waived the TUP fee for the KXFM Halloween event, as it meets the criteria of a civic-based community event. However, staff has not waived fees associated with the use of City resources, such as Public Works vehicles, maintenance staff, and Park Ranger personnel. Determination of whether to recover or waive these costs is a policy matter for City Council consideration.
Due to the limited time between the preparation of this report and the scheduled October 30th event date, staff has issued the TUP with a condition requiring the applicant to provide a $1,650 deposit to cover anticipated City resource expenses. Should the Council direct staff to waive the resource fees, the deposit will be returned following the event. Conversely, if the Council directs staff to recover City costs, those charges will be applied to the deposit. If event setup and breakdown require less time than estimated, staff will process a refund of any remaining balance.
The City continues to refine its approach to community event management and fee recovery to better distinguish between civic-oriented activities and commercial uses. The forthcoming Special Event Permit program will provide a more tailored and transparent framework for evaluating these types of requests.
Until such a system is formally adopted, requests of this nature will continue to be processed through the TUP process, with administrative discretion applied to ensure consistency and fairness in the treatment of community events.
We as staff have not seen an easy way to address proposals like this. Cities across the region struggle with requests by well-respected, and well-meaning community organizers when weighed against the concept that we as a City government also operate City events, and we have a formal calendaring and budgeting process by which Council considers them.
A good goal may be to have an annual review process for fee waivers and requests to absorb costs so that all may be weighed not in isolation or one-off requests, but in conjunction with both the Budget and all others who seek financial assistance.
FINANCIAL ANALYSIS
Whether fees are waived or not, the City’s anticipated costs for this will roughly be $1,600, notwithstanding the time to review and process the TUP. While the event is set for hours within a work day (versus an evening or weekend), the event will cause our staff to redirect work that day.
ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS
KXFM OAK STREET HALLOWEEN EVENT – CONSIDERATION OF WAIVER OF CITY RESOURCE FEES; CEQA DETERMINATION
October 28, 2025
Pursuant to State CEQA Guidelines Section 15304(e) (Minor Temporary Use of Land), the proposed action is categorically exempt from the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Section 15304(e) exempts minor, short-term uses of land that have negligible or no permanent effects on the environment.
The temporary closure of a portion of Oak Street to accommodate a community Halloween event is a limited-duration activity occurring within an existing public right-of-way. The event will not result in any permanent physical changes or environmental impacts, and all streets and facilities will return to their original condition following the event. Accordingly, the proposed action qualifies for exemption under CEQA Guidelines Section 15304(e).
ATTACHMENTS
None
Submitted By: Matthew Schneider Approved: .David A Kiff Matthew Schneider, Director of
Community Development
Dave Kiff, City Manager
Report Prepared By: Coordinated With:
Dave Kiff, City Manager
Matthew Schneider, Director of Community
Development