Agenda Index City of Vancouver

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

TO:

Vancouver City Council

FROM:

General Manager of Engineering Services

SUBJECT:

Approval of 2002 Special Events

RECOMMENDATION

A. THAT the Special Events in Appendix A be approved, subject to staff working out acceptable arrangements with the event organizers.

COUNCIL POLICY

The FEST Committee will obtain Council approval annually for the anticipated Special Events that use City property or where the event could have an impact on the adjacent property.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this report is to submit for Council approval the list of anticipated special events to be held in 2002 and to identify issues about specific events on which staff need direction.

BACKGROUND

The City of Vancouver requires that anyone planning an event on City property, including streets, sidewalks and other public space, be granted permission from the City Engineer to hold the event. Applications are submitted to and vetted by staff in the Film & Special EventsOffice, Projects Branch of Engineering Services. Although final approval for all events comes from Council the vast majority of the applications are dealt with at a staff level; only events that have a significant impact on specific neighbourhoods or the city as a whole are brought to Council's attention for specific approval.

At present, there is no charge for submitting a Special Event application to the City. The film industry, through the permitting fees it pays to the City, provides significant funding for the City's Film & Special Events Office, allowing staff to work on special events with no costs charged back to the applicants. Applications to hold special events are reviewed by Special Events staff and, if other City departments and outside organizations like BC Ambulance, Coast Mountain Bus Company or the Coast Guard are likely to be impacted, a FEST (Festival Expediting Staff Team) meeting is held with the organizers to address issues that might impact the public or the delivery of services. The main issues addressed are the safety of participants and the general public, and ensuring that there is no conflict between events. Although the Park Board has policies which apply to events held completely within a park, Parks staff also participate in the overall City process to approve events to ensure that no conflict between City and Park events occur. As the number of events in Vancouver increases, the impacts on businesses and residents in the area are also considered. City costs (signage, barricades, sanitation, policing, etc.) and outside agency costs (Transit re-routing signs, Ambulance Service attendance) associated with the event are identified and the amount to be charge to organizers is calculated. Event organizers then submit a deposit to cover City costs and a letter of permission is issued to the organizers.

Some financial assistance is available to event organizers. A sum up to $500 is available to assist Event Organizers in covering the cost of policing services. This assistance is funded by the Police Department and is applied against policing charges for an event.

DISCUSSION

Appendix A contains the list of 256 Special Events which are anticipated in the City this year and which staff recommend be approved. Confirmed dates are noted, as is the type of event. If no application has been received to date, but the event is an annual one, last year's date is shown. The majority of event applications are received in March and April, but many come in at a later time, closer to the event date. This is particularly true of Block Parties, for which City and Park Board staff help coordinate the provision of barricades to block the street for safety reasons, and assist the organizers in getting neighbourhood support for the event through means of a notification letter and sign off sheet. Since the Block Party program was initiated about seven years ago interest in them has grown significantly, and last year there were more than 43 Block Party applications approved.

Any significant new Special Event applications will be brought to Council's attention, while other ones will be routinely approved by staff. A regularly updated list of Special Events is available on the Special Events Office website. It also provides information for the publicabout guidelines for holding an event in the City of Vancouver, the application process through the FEST Committee, downloadable forms and an option to submit the Special Event application online. The website address is www.city.vancouver.bc.ca/-engsvcs/events/index.htm. In 2001 the Special Events Office received approximately 250 Special Event applications. Of those, 111 were annual and ongoing events; 16 were considered to have enough of an impact to warrant a FEST Committee meeting with City staff, outside agencies and event organizers; and only three were considered significant enough to bring individually to Council's attention. Almost $18,5000.00 in FEST assistance was distributed to 40 different events.

As well, a significant amount of time was spent by staff last year on the 2001 Celebration of Light, once the event was approved by Council as a civic event, and funding provided to cover the costs of delivering city services. Council has already received information about estimated costs for this year's event in the budget report; the dates for this year's Celebration of Light are July 31, August 3, 7 and 10th. Staff are currently working with the Society on a revised traffic plan, a change in the start time from 10:15 to 10:00pm, and some other possible on-site activities to encourage family participation.

The following is a breakdown of some of the 2001 events approved, by type:
· 6 major events (Celebration of Light, Vancouver Sun Run, Jazz Festival, Vancouver International Marathon, Pride Parade, Molson Indy);
· 25 runs ( CIBC Run for the Cure, Pacific Road Runners ½ Marathon, Childrun);
· 18 festivals (Word on the Street, Dragon Boat Festival, French Summer Festival; Greek Summer Festival);
· 14 walks (Winter Solstice Procession, Terry Fox Walk);
· 13 parades (Vaisakhi Parade, Fools Day Parade, Kerrisdale Carnival Days);
· 7 openings (Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue, Wall Street Community Garden);
· 44 demonstrations (Take Back the Night, Eracism, End the Arms Race);
· 44 Block Parties.

As well there were cultural and religious events, exhibitions, marches and ceremonies.
There is only one major new event this year to bring to Council's attention for specific approval, and one that Council was informed about last year that will change somewhat again this year.

The Shrine of North America's International Session Parades - June 25th & 26th

As part of the 2000 Special Events Report, Council approved in principle the Pacific Northwest Shrine Association's plan to organize two parades as part of the International Shrine meeting in Vancouver June 23rd to 27th, subject to staff working out acceptable arrangements with the organizers. With financial assistance from Tourism Vancouver and logistical support from the FEST Committee, a route has been agreed upon. The parades will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday, June 25th & 26th. Both parades will be routed along Pacific Boulevard from Richards St. to Abbott St., with marshaling on Beach Avenue, PacificBoulevard, and Howe, Hornby and Granville Streets south of Pacific Boulevard. Dispersal will be on Pacific Blvd between Abbott St. and Quebec. The Tuesday parade will be a daytime event, from 1pm till 5pm; the Wednesday parade, somewhat shorter in length, will occur between 5pm and 8pm.

Canada Day - July 1, 2002

Canada Place Corporation has hosted Canada Day Celebrations inside the Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Centre for the last 15 years. Last year the event was moved outdoors for the first time, and necessitated road closures on Cordova Street and Canada Place Way, as well as on the access ramp from the Marathon-owned land west of Canada Place to Burrard. This year the event will be held both indoors at Canada Place and outdoors on the Canada Place Plaza. As well, the organizers have once again requested a full closure of Cordova Street between Howe and Burrard.

Steamworks Tour de Gastown Bike Race - Wednesday, July 17th

The Gastown Business Improvement Society is reviving the Gastown Grand Prix Bike Race that was a very popular event from 1973 to 1992. Cyclists from across North America will be competing in this BC Cycling Superweek event - one of three occurring in the Lower Mainland. The Gastown organizers have been working closely with the Tour de White Rock and the Tour de Delta. The Gastown Race is a Criterium, which will have the cyclists doing laps on a course that will include Water Street, Columbia, Cordova and Cambie. The race will take place on the evening of Wednesday, July 17th.

CONCLUSION

Once again, we are anticipating a busy year of special events in all areas of the City. We recommended that Council approve the 2002 Special Events included in Appendix A.

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