Dear Menlo Park City Counsel members,
I am writing to you today to ask you to re-visit the removal of "minor" event permits.
Our neighborhood has had an annual 4th of July picnic for the past 48 years. We; Felton Gables; are a small, pocket neighborhood of 115 homes with streets that do not go through to any other locations.
This year when we applied for our 4th of July picnic permit we found out you had done away with "minor" event permits raising our cost significantly.
Quite a few year back we had much larger groups and blocked off all 2 blocks of Lennox Ave between Felton Dr at both ends (near the railroad tracks to near Encinal School). The last couple of years it has been much smaller groups and we only used the street in front of 3 houses; 230, 248 & 300 Lennox Ave. This year we had 56 adults and 6 children for a total of 62. This number is more typical for recent years and what we would expect in the upcoming years. We did take out a liability insurance policy with the City of Menlo Park named as an additional insured for the event also.
The fee that was charged was $250 for a "Major Event Permit Fee." Case #SPE2024-00012. This just seems like a fairly high fee for this small a neighborhood get together. Between this and the insurance of $200 it was $450 before we even bought food, water, sodas, plates, etc.
Without the "minor event permit it may really make it prohibitive for us to continue to have this party in the future which would be such a shame. The neighbors look forward to this each year as a fun day to catch up with old friends and meet new neighbors.
We ask that you reconsider the removal of the "minor event permit and reinstate it so we may continue to enjoy our small neighborhood gatherings.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Laurie Thomas
Felton Gables Treasurer
650-465-7764
lauriethomas6@comcast.net
