BY LINDA BENTLEY | APRIL 30, 2014
Merchants and residents at odds with town’s special events policy
‘If you, as elected officials, cannot run this town as the majority desires, you can be replaced’
Merchants and residents have taken issue with the way the town has handled special events and road closures, especially during Bike Week.
Courtesy photo from Main Event Imaging
CAVE CREEK – Residents have joined with some town core business owners in a “Petition of Grievances” to present during Thursday morning’s Office Hours with the Mayor and Vice Mayor on May 15.
The petition requests that the mayor and council take immediate action regarding special events, stating events should be based on quality not quantity, and asks the town to reinstate the original special event ordinance.
They also ask that the dB level in the noise ordinance be lowered and enforced.
“We don’t want another Sturgis,” the petition signers state as they ask the town to get rid of Bike Week or move it to August.
They want median access for all businesses and ask council to consider public safety before spending scarce resources to buy more public land.
Street closures, benefiting businesses without legal parking, at the expense of the public and other businesses, have been an oft-repeated pet peeve.
Included in the list of grievances is off-street parking, specifically Chapter 3, page 4, 10e of the zoning ordinance, and lack of enforcement, especially when there is marginal parking to begin with, whereas some business owners will fill up their parking lots with vendor tents, forcing attendees to park at other businesses.
The petition signers claim they are not the “middle child” in this community of businesses and residences, “where the rules are bent for a few,” and warn, “If you, as elected officials, cannot run this town as the majority desires, you can be replaced.”
The Cave Creek Merchants and Events Association has been pushing to bring as many special events to the town as possible, seemingly pitting businesses that benefit from special events against residents and businesses that do not.
