St. Augustine's New Event Fees and Rules Take Effect Oct. 1

Renting Francis Field for a festival, a run or a fair is about to cost more, and it will be priced differently. St. Augustine city commissioners voted unanimously on Aug. 25 to approve an updated special-events manual that changes how the city charges for events on city property and in public rights-of-way, with the new rates and rules kicking in Oct. 1.

The biggest shift is at Francis Field, the city's main event lawn near the Fairgrounds. Instead of basing fees on how many people an organizer expects to show up, the city will now charge based on how long a group actually books the field. Community Services Director Jamie Perkins told commissioners the old system left too much guesswork for organizers who either never confirmed a headcount or wildly overestimated one.

Under the new structure, renting Francis Field costs $300 for up to four hours, $750 for four to eight hours, and $1,500 for anything longer than eight hours. Setup and breakdown days run $500 each, and organizers have to put down a deposit equal to half the total rental fee before they can book.

Other fees are climbing too. The special-event permit application fee goes from $35 to $50. Parade and athletic-event permits rise from $50 to $75. Renting the gazebo at the Plaza de la Constitución, the shaded landmark at the heart of downtown where weddings and small ceremonies are common, goes from $225 to $285.

Eddie Vickers Park gets a bigger change than a price increase. Its event lawn will now only be available for rentals on Saturdays. Private events there will cost $150, public or ticketed events $300, and the park's renovated gazebo rents for $25 per four-hour block.

Perkins told commissioners the fees were set by weighing what events actually cost the city in public safety staffing, cleanup, electricity and water, not to raise money for its own sake. "We're not a revenue generating government," she said. "Everything we do is based off of the service that we provide."

All of May blocked at Francis Field

The updated manual also carves out the entire month of May at Francis Field for the Live Wildly Sing Out Loud Festival, which is moving from its longtime September date to May. Perkins said the festival needs the full month for setup and breakdown of its stage and infrastructure, calling it a large, well-attended concert event that requires the extra lead time.

That blackout could bump up against another fixture on the local calendar. Commissioners raised the possibility of a scheduling conflict with the CPS Festival at the Mission Grounds, whose dates depend on when a traveling carnival is available and can shift by two or three weeks. Perkins said city staff will check the calendar once CPS organizers lock in their dates and hold Francis Field open if it's still free.

Shuttle rules get clearer, not new

The manual also spells out, more clearly than before, when organizers of high-impact events must provide shuttle or park-and-ride service for attendees. Perkins said that requirement isn't new, it dates back roughly a decade, but the old manual never made clear exactly when it kicked in. She said giving organizers more upfront detail lets them plan rather than find out mid-permitting that they need to arrange parking they hadn't budgeted for.

Anyone planning a festival, race, parade or park event in St. Augustine after Oct. 1 will be working under the new fee schedule and blackout dates. The city has not announced a specific rollout date for updated permit applications reflecting the new rates.

For more on how this affects local events, follow along at St. Johns Community Website and join the conversation in our Community Forum. You can also find us on Facebook for updates as organizers react to the new rules. For more coverage of local decisions like this one, visit our government and politics section, and for what's happening around town, check out our events coverage.

Header photo: Ebyabe / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)