Stettler town council discussed neighbourhood block party guidelines at their regular meeting on Tuesday, July 15 with a view to starting to regulate the events to ensure peace and safety.
Anyone wanting to throw a block party must now fill out a form with the town at least two weeks before the event. The town will then notify emergency services if temporary road closures are needed, but the barricades may be removed in the case of an emergency.
Residents are responsible to pick up road barricades from and drop them off to the Stettler Recreation Centre. The block party must wrap up by 10 p.m., and attendees must follow established bylaws.
“This way, the community can feel comfortable having a block party without infringing on others,” said town CAO Greg Switenky.
Switenky added that this covers block party activities within reason, so not “a 10 block kegger.”
Mayor Dick Richards wondered if making block parties a town-sanctioned event opened them to liability issues, but Switenky said the town is allowing it to happen on their property, not organizing the events themselves, so the risk was negligible.
The motion to accept the guidelines was accepted unanimously.