Local Stories by Local People
updated: Aug 04, 2012, 8:45 PM

By Edhat Subscriber

Could somebody tell me if it's legal to reserve sidewalk space the week before a parade? I'm seeing taped off sections of downtown sidewalks for big heavies like Bryant and Sons and Garcias, etc...

Comments in order of when they were received | (reverse order)

COMMENT 304863	2012-08-04 08:48 PM
No, nada
COMMENT 304864	2012-08-04 08:50 PM
I guess this is going to come up before and after every parade. Yes, it's a tradition in Santa Barbara to reserve your spot, plop your blanket, stake your claim or chalk your boundary (though I don't think that would fly too well). As of yet it is still not illegal. But stealing someone else's staking property may well get you a citation.
COMMENT 304867	2012-08-04 09:42 PM
The tradition is the day of...not the week before....move their crap cause that is just lame. day of ok.....not week of. geez
COMMENT 304882P	2012-08-04 11:16 PM
It's not legal. Next year the City is going to take all of the chairs, ropes, and tape away unless people are actually sitting in the chairs. They will keep the chairs and they will be available at City Hall the next day.
COMMENT 304898	2012-08-05 07:50 AM
reserving an area on a public sidewalk, before parade day, with chairs, blankets, rope or whatever, should not be allowed. If someone wants to reserve an area the morning of, then they should get their butt down there and sit....
COMMENT 304899P	2012-08-05 07:52 AM
I saw several signs before the parade indicating one could not set up for the parade before 5pm the day before. The sign said that the city would confiscate anything set up before 5pm. Fat chance they enforced it against Bryant & Sons, or anyone else for that matter. All bark and no bite. If anyone is bothered enough by the set ups a week before they should contact city council members and insist on enforcement.
COMMENT 304904	2012-08-05 08:22 AM
This year several businesses roped/taped off especially large areas of the public sidewalk, and some didn't even bother placing chairs as surrogate place holders. (Don't most queues require someone to be in place? How does Pasadena do it for Rose Parade?) Where we were on lower State quite a few pre-placed seats went unoccupied for the duration of the parade. What's next? Blocking an area with crime scene tape and then selling SRO access to gullible tourists? Or maybe the cash-strapped city can sell naming rights for the sidewalk to whatever pushy business or bank fronts it and therefore believes they have a capitalist's absolute right to block public access for exclusive benefit of employees and their elite buddies. Time for this tradition to just fade away.
SBROCKS	2012-08-05 08:57 AM
If I own a business on State Street I would think that the property in front of my store front would be my right to use, just like the property in front of my house. This has been going on since the 60's when I came to SB. We would watch the parade with friends who owned their business in chairs that they set up. There was always room for others around us. Maybe the parade needs to be longer to accomodate the increased size of the crowd. If there is not enough rooms for people to watch the parade as is, make it longer. A much easier and less costly fix then removing chairs and having to store them.
COMMENT 304933	2012-08-05 09:49 AM
You have as much of a right to tape off your own section as anyone... SB is filled with so many busy body do nothings... By far the worst aspect of living here is dealing with all these busy body, nosy neighbor types... Way too many people have way too much time on their hands in this town...
COMMENT 304939	2012-08-05 10:04 AM
I have a solution. Next year 20 of us are going to neatly stack all chairs and fold all blankets and leave them for the owners. By the time they get back, others will have innocently found a spot to sit in and the hijcakers will be out of luck.
RHS	2012-08-05 10:06 AM
SBROCKS--you do not have a right to use the public property in front of your house to the exclusion of the rest of the public. Street parking, sidewalks and the parkway between the sidewalk and the street are public easements for the use of all of us. You can't put up no parking signs in front of your house so you can park there specially! The city allows businesses to lease some of this public space for business use as sidewalk cafes but there is a fee to be paid for this. If you want to have special access to the public property you should look into paying for it.
FLICKA	2012-08-05 10:48 AM
Read Billy today, some people think they have a right to take over sidewalks, not just on parade day but everyday.
COMMENT 304962P	2012-08-05 10:55 AM
OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!
LIZTISH340	2012-08-05 11:21 AM
It's been a tradition for years. Hadn't heard anyone complain until the last few years. The parade route is long enough for everyone to find a spot where they can watch. Please join in the fun and don't be mean spirited.
COMMENT 304973	2012-08-05 11:30 AM
Well Liz, If the parade route is long enough, then with your logic, nobody needs to reserve a spot.. And it's not reserving anyway. It's taking. Maybe that's the answer. More red tape as opposed to yellow. The City needs to get involved and take reservations. Online spot buying. Make some money to pay for the horse droppings. This is NOT a time honored tradition. It's total lazy and selfish bahavior that happens everywhere in the world.
COMMENT 304980	2012-08-05 12:38 PM
SBRocks: It's not the 60's anymore and nobody owns the sidewalk or street in front of their business or home. SB people like you and your State street bussiness-owning friend need to get over your sense of entitlement.
COMMENT 305018	2012-08-05 05:09 PM
Since the sidewalks and streets are PUBLIC thoroughfares, owned collectively by ALL residents, reserving seating areas to watch a parade, is something done with reliance on there being no exception taken by anyone else. No-one has the legal right to do this, and there is no law by which one can enforce one's advance reservation of a strip of State Street sidewalk. One must rely on the good will, and toleration of one's fellow resident/ users. That is, one must hope that others will respect the non-legal boundaries you have tried to erect, to keep others from enjoying something you want to reserve an exclusive right to enjoy for yourself. As the Fiesta parades become more heavily attended by ever greater crowds, I have the feeling that this "tradition" will go the way of the 15-cent tacos I used to enjoy at Taco Bell.
COMMENT 305029P	2012-08-05 06:22 PM
I say pile all the crap up at State and Anacapa and torch it in a big@ss bonfire.
COMMENT 305034	2012-08-05 07:12 PM
4939.... now that's a kinder form of civil disobedience, Robin Hood style.
COMMENT 305071	2012-08-06 06:20 AM
Parades suck. Cancel all the stupid parades and we won't have this problem anymore.
COMMENT 305175	2012-08-06 11:52 AM
OP here. I don't think reserving space on a sidewalk the night before is in the spirit of fairness. The reason I asked is I'm a tiny adult, 4'7" and if I get to the parade route at 10:30AM, I would love to be able to be in front, but, most of the space is taped off as reserved. Can you imagine the frustration of not being able to see when you have made the effort to get to a good spot on time and not have the opportunity to be in the front? During a Fourth of July event down at the harbor several years ago, I saw fights break out because of reserved space and the fighters were huge women sumos. I wasn't about to sit in somebody's space that looked like they could kill me by sitting on me. I've decided to drive down and spend my time and $'s in Malibu rather than stay in Santa Barbara. It's time for the city to reconsider it's policies.

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