The Cupertino Courier

Block parties are back

By Pam Marino

Block parties are getting a second chance in Cupertino, thanks to residents who almost had to give up their 16-year tradition because of stiff insurance requirements.

The residents of Hollanderry Place moved their annual Labor Day block party to Three Oaks Park this year, after the city told them they must secure a special-event insurance policy in order to shut down their street. The policy would have cost the residents as much as $1,000 for the six-hour party.

Disappointed residents lobbied the city and turned to the media in hopes that an alternative solution could be found.

It turns out they weren't the only ones lobbying. Councilmember Don Burnett said last week that he had been asking the city staff to find a solution ever since his neighborhood had been denied a permit for a block party in the spring.

A few weeks ago the city found and applied for a package insurance policy that might only cost about $100 to insure future block parties. "My thought is the city ought to be willing to absorb half that cost," Burnett said. "I feel real strongly we ought to encourage these block parties."

Burnett said his main concern is that emergency vehicles are able to get through. To that end, he suggested that residents be required to keep a 12-foot corridor of street empty.

Other requirements might also include ending the parties at dusk, and using the city's barricades with blinking lights to warn vehicles of street closures.

Public Works Director Bert Viskovich said the city should have the new insurance in place by the end of September.

"They couldn't make the arrangements in time this year, and that was fine," resident Hillary Farkas said. The residents are happy they can move their party back to their own street next year, she said.

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