DAPHNE – The Daphne City Council split over a proposal for a downtown public gathering in March with some members expressing concern over health hazards.
The council voted 4-2 to approve a motion to close a portion of Belrose Avenue west of Main Street for a St. Patrick’s Day block party on March 13. The St. Pat’s Block Party will be held by Manci’s Antique Club, according to city officials.
City Councilman Ron Scott compared granting the request to actions in other cities, such as Mobile during Mardi Gras, to approve closing downtown streets for outdoor public gatherings. He said people will be outside at the event whether the street is closed to traffic or not.
“I think the city of Mobile kind of set a precedent for that where they’ve closed some downtown streets because they know that people are going to be congregating, which is the same thing we know on St. Paddy’s Day, that people will be congregating,” Scott said.
He said closing Belrose from the Manci location on Main Street west to the end of the Manci property will not create traffic problems downtown.
“There are a lot of different ways to get everyplace else around there, so it is not a major inconvenience,” Scott said.
City Councilman Steve Olen said Daphne has denied other recent requests for outdoor events, such as block parties, due to concerns over the spread of COVID-19. He said the council should be consistent in its policy.
“I have a different point of view,” Olen said. “We were given a similar request in relation to an event in May Day Park and we declined to provide street closure and I think we ought to be consistent and do the same thing here. I’m not in favor of closing the street here for this event. It’s just going to encourage it to be a bigger event and cause health issues.”
City Clerk Candance Antinarella said the owners of Manci’s have also applied for a temporary ABC permit for the event, which will come to the council for a vote on March 1.
The permit request was made on Dec. 14 and was approved by the fire, police and public works departments, according to city reports. The permit request said the event was expected to be about 5 hours from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.
