Introduction
The SFMTA is please to pilot a “trick-or-treat” street closure process to facilitate community groups and residents applying for closures to limit vehicle traffic on streets where substantial numbers of kids trick-or-treating are anticipated.
You will only need to submit the streets to be closed and the hours to apply, and pay an application fee of $54-311, depending on how many blocks you want to close and how soon you apply.
You will also need to do outreach to all the addresses on the blocks to be closed, and provide barricades for each block end, and arrange for at least one adult for each barricade point for safety and local access. We’ll provide guidance on outreach and information on where you can rent barricades.
Details
Activities
These “trick-or-treat” closures are intended as minimal events, with nothing more taking place than the closure of the streets to through traffic and delivery activity.
If you want to have event activities such as bouncy houses or booths on the street, you should apply for an event in the normal way. For this program, nothing can be in the street other than barricades, and you can’t have the street posted as “tow away-no parking.”
Event activities such as barbequing, booths, apple bobbing, and so on – even bouncy houses – on private property along the street are fine. While some small tables on the sidewalk may be possible in some places, a straight, unobstructed path of travel at least 4 feet wide must be maintained on the sidewalks at all times.
Vehicles and Parking
Any cars parked on the street or in garages when the closure begins should be assisted as needed to exit safely through the nearest set of barricades, with the adults staffing the closure moving the barricades aside to let them out, and then putting them back in place.
The only cars allowed in once the closure begins should be residents going to garages (or any lots) on the street -or emergency vehicles or official paratransit. Again, the adults helping with the closure should assist these vehicles with getting safely to their garages. Other cars -such as people looking to park on the street, Ubers or Lyfts, or delivery vehicles - should not be allowed in, as the street has been closed.
Outreach
Because people who live along the blocks to be closed will not be able to access their homes as usual, and because deliveries and similar activities will not be able to take place, it’s important that everyone know about what is planned and what to expect.
We’ll want you to do outreach to everyone well in advance. You could do this by going door to door and talking with your neighbors about what you are hoping to do, or by distributing flyers explaining things. This would also be your chance to encourage them to go all out on decorating and to have a decent supply of treats for all the kids you are hoping to bring out in their scariest or most fun costumes. You should include your contact information – perhaps a special email account in the name you’ve chosen for your trick-or-treat event- when you’re doing your outreach, so that people can contact you with any questions
We’ll also want you to include our contact information when doing outreach on your trick-or-treat street so that your neighbors can check in with us with any concerns. We’ll also have you post public notices on each block to inform every one of the public hearing at which your request will be considered.
The public hearings are held at 9 a.m, on the second and fourth Thursdays of the month. They are online – or remote – hearings, and people can join by computer (which works best) or just phone in. You will be expected to attend to answer any questions from the review committee, which will be very minimal if any, and to respond to any community concerns. Hopefully, there won’t be any, as your outreach to your neighbors and the community will have explained everything.
Barricades and Staffing
Regulation barricades are required for all street closures, and their high visibility treatment and other features are useful safety enhancements. Barricades can be rented through the City’s Public Works department or from private vendors.
(If you think you will be holding regular street closures – such as neighborhood block parties and annual trick-or-treat events – and you have adequate storage space, you might consider purchasing barricades rather than renting them each time, as the purchase price could well be less than even two rentals.)
A person monitoring – staffing – the barricades is important to keep them in place and make sure that drivers don’t just move them aside and drive down the street normally. That person can also make sure that residents who need to get to their garages do so safely, with the kids on the street in mind, and also that any cars that need to get out – from parking spaces on the street or from garages - likewise do so safely. Our experience has been that without anyone keeping an eye on the barricades, they can get moved aside – by delivery drivers, for instance – and then left to one side, with subsequent cars not necessarily aware that there’s a street closure in place and, for trick-or-treat closures, that small children may be out on the street.
Application Fees
For single block closures where the person applying is a resident on the block (or a resident association), the fee is $54. For multi-block closures, the fee is $156.
Once you have read all of the above information and any referenced additional material...