From:
Cc: Sean McDonagh
Subject: Porch Fest
Date: Monday, July 14, 2025 10:10:49 AM
Dear City Council Members,
I’ve been told that city council members don’t read emails from constituents, but I’m going to take a leap of faith and assume that you do.
We live on the corner of Last year we were surprised to hear that an ‘event’ was going to take place in our neighborhood. We heard nothing about it until we saw Porch Fest signs on a few front yards. To say we were dismayed and not happy about the whole thing is an understatement. We were just told that it was happening, period.
How would this be advertised? This really needs to be taken into consideration as there could be way too many people coming in.
1) Knowing about Rick’s ( corner of history regarding so-called ‘block parties’, we are very skeptical about what we see as just an extension of his parties. 2) High Street is a quiet neighborhood. It is not an event venue, especially as a yearly thing. And to be brutally honest, we do not have faith that the organizers will do all they claim regarding proper insurance, music loudness, trash, trespassing etc. We did not see or hear of anyone monitoring the event last year. 3) Living on the corner of we have far more footage on said streets than most any other neighbors. This will impact us far more regarding our privacy, noise, gardens, safety and liability. 4) By far our BIGGEST concern is liability. What if someone is injured on ‘our’ sidewalks or damages our property? Do we have to put up barriers to keep people off our yard? If the event is approved by City Council, will its members or the City of Sebastopol be liable should there be any injuries or property damage? Sebastopol has the Apple Blossom festival, the Gravenstein Fair, Peace Town concerts, Barlow concerts, events at SebArts. We’re hardly bereft of wonderful activities, including Hopmonk music events etc.
Why isn’t Florence hosting the Halloween event again? It would be good to know what problems, issues they experienced.
Thanks for your time and attention.
Ron and Nina Hari