JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Neighborhood block parties are a tradition for some Jacksonville residents, but some say the parties can get out of hand, and one city councilman is calling for a temporary ban on them.
Councilman Reggie Brown said it's a matter of safety.
“As we approach the summer and spring, I want to make sure we have our hands around it,” Brown said.
Brown's proposal would put a hold on permits for block parties while the council looks at changing laws governing them.
DOCUMENTS: Current city rules for block parties |
Forms to request permission for block party
In the Brooklyn neighborhood six years ago, 11 people were shot during a summer block party. No one has ever been charged in the shooting, which caused the death of an unborn baby.
But many in the neighborhood said that Monday that they believe those parties should still be allowed, despite what happened.
Thelma Levine said she was there when the shooting occurred and blames people who don’t live in her neighborhood. She said block parties are not the cause.
“People get shot every day without being at a block party. What do they do about that?” Levine said.
Others in the area echoed her sentiment.
“It doesn't have to just be a block party. It could be a soccer game at the school, anywhere. Riots happen everywhere,” William Ryan said. “It doesn't necessarily have to be a block party.”
The city had 165 requests for block party permits last year.
Brown said he gets calls all the time about block parties, and he thinks the current rules are too vague.
For example, the city allows parties to run from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. Brown said that’s too late. To have a block party, residents need signatures from at least 60 percent of those living on the block agreeing to it.
Brown said when parties get out of hand, it can be hard for police to respond.
“Some of them are good. In fact, we don't hear about a lot of them, but the ones that you care about is when the music is entirely too loud, too many cars, the flow traffic is not where it needs to be,” Brown said.
Brown said the moratorium would last for 90 days, so the council can rewrite the rules and come up with new ways to issue permits. He said right now the majority of people throwing the parties and events don’t get permits, and that can be a problem.
“All block parties should have some visibility in terms of law enforcement,” Brown said.
His bill will be introduced when the council meets Tuesday night.