DES MOINES, Iowa — In an effort to bring things operations back to normal, Mayor Frank Cownie amended the emergency proclamation he made in March to allow certain social, recreational, community and sporting events on public property.
The updated proclamation also includes parades or festivals of more than 10 people.
For special events lasting more than one to five days, a street use permit is required to allow for things like temporary street closures while the event is going on. This also applies if an event lasts longer than a total of five days throughout a 30-day period.
These permits must be requested 30 to 90 days out of the event you're requesting it for, depending on the event's location.
To request a street use permit, click here.
The City of Des Moines also requires any march, procession or other similar things to get either a parade or a street use permit. If the parade, march, procession, etc. is non-recurring, organizers have to file for the permit at least four days in advance.
The city says the chief of police can waive the four-day requirement, if good cause can be shown and the event can be scheduled and carried out with no threat to public safety, given the event's time and place, number of participants and the city services required.
"Street use or parade permits allow the City to be involved in the planning process to ensure they can safely support the participants, spectators, and vehicular traffic pertaining to the event," Jen Schulte, Director of Government Relations and Communications for the City of Des Moines, told Local 5.
Organizers also have to show that their events can comply with social distancing guidelines laid out by the CDC and Iowa Dept. of Public Health.
City manager Scott Sanders says this is a good opportunity to try and get things back to normal as COVID-19 restrictions continue to lift.
"As the COVID-19 numbers have improved the last five weeks, this is a step back to normal operations. There is an opportunity to carefully start reintroducing public events into our community in a safe and thoughtful manner," Sanders said.
The updated proclamation will go into affect July 1.
