Present: ~~ Gerry Casiello; Vice Chairman, Ben Gordon; John Shaban, Gary Miyishiro, Joe Ventricelli
Mr. Shaban and Mr. Miyishiro were seated for Mr. Taylor and Mr. Sanford who were both absent.
PUBLIC HEARING
Lenihan School of Irish Dance, Joel Barlow High School – Discuss with Commission Limited Duration Permit for Dance Competition being held Sunday April 6, 2008 from 6:30 a.m. until 6:30 p.m.
MOTION- Made by Mr. Shaban and seconded by Mr. Miyishiro to open the public hearing.
Patty Lenihan, owner of Lenihan School of Irish Dance and Ken Crau, Assistant Principal of JBHS were present to answer questions. The event is an all day dance competition to take place at JBHS on April 6, 2008. Although the start time is indicated as 6:30 a.m., the actual start time will be 8:30 a.m. The extra 1.5 hours is for set up. Approximately 800 people are expected for the event, to be spread out throughout the day. This includes participants and staff. The first competition is scheduled for 8:45 a.m., then 10:00 a.m., 12:00, 2:00 and 3:00 p.m. As far as participants are concerned it ends at 5:30 p.m., with the last hour slated for cleanup. Competitors are from area schools of dance, including Redding.
Mr. Crau expects the front parking lot to fill up right away, so the 2 rear lots will be used as well. The front lot at JBHS holds 350 cars, the junior lot holds 45 cars and the Stadium lot, as a last resort, holds 100 cars. The 3 lots will be utilized, with a shuttle bus carrying people to the school from the 2 rear lots. Three police officers will be hired to assist with traffic, and there will be 3 security guards on duty as well to assist. Football games typically draw up to 1,000 people concentrated for a few hours. Ms. Lenihan said that every effort will be made to alert people through the website that parking is limited and that car pooling is recommended.
The auditorium and 2 gymnasiums will be used for the event.
Mr. Casiello read a letter into the record from Gail Von Dwindlow expressing concern that the lots would not accommodate the volume of participants expected. The event was held last year and cars were parked on the grass and all along Barlow Drive. Mr. Crau said that the Stadium and Junior lots were not utilized during last year’s event, and that using them this year with the added convenience of a shuttle bus should provide a solution. There will also be more police officers.
Suzanne Krivit, also a neighbor, provided photos from last year’s event and said that the cars were the problem. A letter in opposition to the event was read into the record from Deb and Phil Mangieri, Cricklewood Road, also saying that traffic flow is a problem and that an early morning Sunday event should not be allowed.
MOTION: ~Made by Mr. Gordon and seconded by Mr. Shaban to close the public hearing at 7:49 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Val Koniecki, Clerk
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