The Sunnyvale Sun

News

'Unruly' events prompt changes

By Stephen Baxter

Sunnyvale leaders moved May 8 to tighten the city's permitting policy for large events at restaurants and other businesses. Department of Public Safety officials said a lack of advance notice for recent parties has resulted in public drunkenness, assaults, vandalism and littering, and the department wants to work more closely with event planners.

"Large events or gatherings of people have frequently become loud and unruly to the point that they constitute a threat to the peace, health, safety and general welfare of the public," a city report stated.

The city council directed police to work with the Community Development Department and the city attorney's office to require advance notice of parties, stricter rules and fines and reimbursements for police work.

Mark Stivers, deputy chief of public safety, said authorities want businesses to be successful, but they also want events to be safe and orderly.

"Some of these large events use up a lot of public resources," Stivers said.

From January 2006 to Feb. 28, 2007, public safety officers spent about 720 hours responding to calls downtown related to crowds, according to a city report. Many events had repeated calls.

The responses cost the city roughly $76,000.