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Youngstown council to consider streamlining permit process for events
YOUNGSTOWN
City council will consider a proposal Wednesday to streamline Youngstown’s laws on obtaining permits for parades, block parties and other events on public streets or rights of way.
The new process would make it easier for both city officials and those seeking permits, said Law Director Martin Hume and Michael McGiffin, coordinator of downtown events and special projects.
“The new permit asks a lot more questions, but it allows us to see exactly what the event is and what is needed,” McGiffin said. “It’s almost like a checklist.”
The current system has two forms – one that asks a handful of questions and another that requires a temporary zoning-use permit that includes obtaining the signatures of a dozen people.
Under the proposal, the temporary zoning-use permit would be needed only for events lasting seven or more days.
That zoning-use permit costs $25 while the other permit for parades, block parties and other assemblages is free.
Under the proposal, it would cost $25 for the single-permit form.
That doesn’t include the expense of police officers acting as security for events.
Also, there would be other fees and deposits that still need to be worked out, Hume and McGiffin said.
“If you leave an enormous grease stain on West Federal Street and we have to come out and clean it and it costs $150, you’d have to pay it,” McGiffin said.
These events will continue to require organizers to obtain a $1 million liability-insurance policy with the city named as an additional insured party.
The insurance and requirements for permits were the subjects of a May 7 article in The Vindicator related to animal-rights activists having a rally and objecting to the $1 million policy. The city didn’t require the activists to have a policy as they didn’t block the sidewalk in front of city hall – and a city police officer was there to make sure that didn’t happen.
“It doesn’t have anything to do with them, but [the rally] showcases the need for a new permitting process,” McGiffin said, adding this is something he’s wanted to address since he was hired by the city in November.
Meanwhile, a final agreement to relocate the city’s municipal court facility from the second floor of city hall to the city-hall annex probably will not be in front of council Wednesday.
“We’re getting the language right on the final settlement,” Hume said. “It just needs some tweaking.”
It could come up at the council’s next meeting June 17 or possibly before that, Hume said. After June 17, council doesn’t have a regularly scheduled meeting until Sept. 16 though it often has one or two special meetings during the summer.
The deal would come about six years after the judges filed a complaint with the Ohio Supreme Court over the court’s conditions and demanded an improved facility.
The plan is to spend about $7.1 million, mostly from court funds, to improve the annex at 9 W. Front St., according to Mayor John A. McNally.
Also, council will consider a proposal to raise the city’s motor-vehicle-license fee from $5 to $10. That ordinance didn’t have enough support at the May 20 meeting to pass by emergency measure. The increase would increase the fund by about $350,000 annually to be used for road improvements, McNally said.
Council also will consider a plan to bill downtown business owners at least $150 if they fail to remove snow and ice from the front of their properties by 7 a.m. the day after a snowstorm. The proposal has received a mixed reaction from those who work downtown.