To some, it was the ultimate party foul, the kind of bureaucratic development that has a big impact on lives.
That’s why in Friday’s Tribune, we revisited the cash-strapped city council’s decision this year to declare the city will no longer waive fees for street fairs and neighborhood festivals. That means that about 200 special events that previously benefited from the waiver will now end up paying for permits to close the street, set up tents, bring in food vendors and otherwise facilitate summer fun — anywhere from $2,000 to $15,000 by organizers’ estimates.
Because the city has not closely tracked these waivers, no one knows how much revenue Chicago had lost by allowing the waivers, or how much the city stands to gain having eliminated them. But the Tribune found some of the city’s biggest bashes (think Ribfest, Benfest and Market Days) benefited from the now-eliminated perk.
The new rule affects everybody, though, and it also left smaller neighborhood groups and chambers of commerce seething over their calculators. Several wondered how long their festivals would be able to go on.
It’s early to say how this will all turn out.
The city says it’s working to cushion the blow for smaller events. Some aldermen are privately hatching their own schemes to help out parties in their wards.
Whether the waiver ban will be a real wet blanket — or just a small hiccup in the social life of another Chicago summer — remains to be seen.
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