Fresno CA Regulations for Popular Arthop Downtown

The city won’t allow outdoor vendors at the next Fresno ArtHop, a popular monthly event held downtown, until it finds a way to regulate it. On Friday, vendors were unhappy and incredulous.

Council member Miguel Arias said the event has become so popular that city officials want to address it before safety and other issues get out of hand.

“We haven’t had any incidents so far where vendors have fought each other; we haven’t had any incidents where a car has hit a pedestrian because there’s no room on the sidewalk. We haven’t had any major safety incidents that have required emergency services from units or medical services,” Arias said Friday during a news conference. “And we want to avoid that.”

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About 15,000 people attend ArtHop, according to Downtown Fresno Partnership cell phone data. Arias said that number is starting to approach the most popular soccer events at Chukchansi Stadium, which draw about 18,000 people.

ArtHop began in 1996 as a chance for local artists to meet and showcase their work to the public, but the event has grown into a popular monthly street fair that extends beyond the city center to the Tower District.

At this monthly gathering, dozens of outdoor vendors set up atop food trucks offer clothing, crafts and other goods.

For nearly three decades of the event, the city of Fresno did not require any permits or charge any fees to vendors who set up their booths on or near Fulton Street.

Arias said a downtown event that draws 15,000 people typically generates about $100,000 in fees, money the city could use to pay for event officials, fire inspections, road closures and other city machinations that the city has so far absorbed for ArtHop.

During ArtHop, vendors are not allowed on the streets or sidewalks.

During the next ArtHop, which will take place on August 1, vendors will not be allowed to exhibit on the streets or sidewalks, so they will be forced into buildings in those same areas.

Arias said the idea is to take the time between Friday’s announcement and the next ArtHop, which will take place on Sept. 5, to develop a plan that would require vendors to obtain permits. That could mean vendors would have to pay for the permit, but Arias said he intends to exhaust all potential alternative financing options before asking vendors to pay.

“This is one of the few events where the city simply doesn’t impose additional costs (on vendors) for police services. It simply assigns officers from other parts of the borough to serve at ArtHop,” he said. “As you can imagine, the larger footprint stretches those services even further.”

Downtown Fresno Partnership will work with vendors and artists looking to rent space at August ArtHop, according to CEO Elliot Balch. He said he’s optimistic that the new version of ArtHop won’t dilute its popularity.

“We are reaching out to our vendors, business owners and property owners along Fulton Street and next week we will release a map that shows exactly how you can continue to enjoy Fulton Street during ArtHop,” Balch said.

A press conference held Friday at Kern Plaza was attended by a large number of local entrepreneurs and ArtHop attendees, most of whom expressed skepticism about the city’s new plan, which they were not asked to help create.

Sellers respond to ArtHop’s new directive

The event, which takes place on the first Thursday of every month, is a great opportunity to earn money for many city centre retail owners and vendors.

Sofia Sanchez said she sells her own clothing as well as vintage clothing at Bad Girls Market, located in the Mammoth Mall on Fulton Street.

She said an ArtHop night can triple her profits compared to a regular day.

Selling items on the street draws a lot more eyeballs than when shoppers have to go inside a building, she said. Shoppers will avoid going inside because they feel pressured to buy in a way they don’t feel when browsing on the street.

“It was ridiculous,” she said after listening to the press conference. “I mean, I don’t think it was for people’s safety, because ArtHop is like that.”

She said she believes the city is really seeing the dollar signs. “All the vendors and all the organizers built this, and (the city) just stepped in and said, ‘You know what? This has been too successful. Now I want to be a part of it,’” she said.

Can I use Measure P money?

Some sellers say that it is not easy for them to move around inside the building.

The food trucks, which are typically located along Fulton Street between Tioga-Sequoia Beer Garden and Full Circle Brewery, are organized by Fresno Street Eats president and founder Mike Osegueda, better known as Mike Oz.

“This is going to hurt a lot of small businesses. I hope the city does a good job of it,” he said Friday after listening to a news conference. “Because if it all goes to waste and it’s just very poor enforcement and nothing changes, you’re just going to hurt a lot of small businesses.”

Osegueda said he generally supports the city’s efforts to avoid problems caused by large crowds, but added that the city should not treat properly authorized and vetted owners like him the same as a temporary vendor who failed to go through the formalities at City Hall.

He added that he also worries that the city’s actions could scare off some ArtHop attendees who may have misconceptions about the city center and its safety.

“We’ve come so far in the last 10 years to overcome that that a lot of people who maybe don’t come here just for ArtHop night will say, ‘Oh, I’m not going to go there anymore,’ because then we’d just kick ourselves in the face,” he said.

Arias said the city is considering potentially using Measure P money to help fund the event and plans to talk to downtown vendors and property owners about different ideas ahead of ArtHop’s September event.