Tempe Town Lake

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February 18, 2007

Tempe to charge higher Beach Park fees

Garin Groff, Tribune

Tempe has boosted the fees to use its popular Beach Park after complaints that the destination has been loved to death. Starting in July, nearly every type of concert, fundraiser or sporting event will pay four to five times the basic use fee. The City Council agreed to the fees Thursday.

The council also decided to put more scrutiny on downtown events. Like the Beach Park events, downtown events can be a blessing or a curse.

Some events draw big crowds that spend lots of money. But other groups often show up, doing nothing for merchants except clogging traffic and making life miserable for businesses and their regular customers.

The Beach Park events became an issue last year as the city got more requests to use the destination than the calendar would allow. And complaints about the park started rising.

“Tempe Beach Park has taken a terrible beating,” Mayor Hugh Hallman said.

The park hosted 96 events last year. The higher fees will boost maintenance at the park that lines Tempe Town Lake.

The rates for noncommercial events will go from $250 to $1,000, and for commercial users from $500 to $2,500.

The city also charges organizers for other city services, such as crowd control, security and street closures. Those fees are often much higher than the basic use fee.

That means the total cost to use the park will only rise slightly, so Tempe officials don’t expect the fees would overwhelm those who use the park.

Tempe hasn’t projected how much money the new fees will generate. The fees are still lower than many cities, said Travis Dray, deputy parks and recreation manager. A study found several other cities charge $3,000 to $8,000 to use their parks.

The higher fees may still be too low, Vice Mayor Hut Hutson said. The council agreed to review the fees in a year to see if they hurt or help the park.

The city also will begin reviewing downtown events after a request from the Downtown Tempe Community. The city should consider a limit on the number of events that trigger street closures, said Eddie Goitia, a managing partner at Monti’s La Casa Vieja and a Downtown Tempe Community officer.

The downtown condo boom will soon bring hundreds of residents to the area, and Goitia said they deserve to know how many street closures they should expect. Events closed streets 19 or 20 times last year.