The Monroe Street Fair will take place for the 21st time on Saturday April 1 during the 52nd Hash Bash, but with some new conditions, City Council officials decided.
After some hesitation about approving the event last month due to public safety concerns raised by the city’s police and fire chiefs, City Council voted unanimously Monday night, March 6, to approve street closures to allow the Monroe Street Fair. But city officials are promising aggressive enforcement of new no-parking zones around the events, with tow trucks on standby.
The fair, with activities including street vendors and speeches, has served for two decades as an afterparty of sorts for the cannabis celebration that takes place the same day on the nearby University of Michigan Diag.
Advertising an 11 a.m. “wake and bake,” the fair actually gets going before the main rally starts at high noon, but it’s where the crowds of thousands also go and mingle for hours after the traditional smoke fest on the Diag.
The city’s police and fire chiefs appeared before City Council in February to raise concerns about approving street closures for the fair this year, suggesting an alternative location such as West Park outside of downtown could work better from a public safety response perspective since the University of Michigan’s spring football game is happening the same day.
The coinciding events create traffic congestion in the downtown area, stressing emergency responses, the chiefs said.
A city staff memo states the police and fire chiefs offered their conditional approval based on organizer Fred Heller/Creative Rec LLC agreeing to the following conditions:
- Bagging additional parking meters around the perimeter of the event, so there would be no on-street parking on several streets to give emergency vehicles more room to navigate.
- Aggressive enforcement (towing) if there are cars parking, stopping or standing on those streets, with tow companies to be contacted ahead of time and asked to have units immediately available.
- A contract with Huron Valley Ambulance for one emergency medical transport unit and one bike team unit (two bikes).
Areas where on-street parking will be restricted include portions of William, State, Hill, Church and Tappan streets and North University Avenue and East University Avenue.
This story ran in MLive