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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2008
Town scales back Halloween
Officials want to continue trend
BY EMILY STEPHENSON
ASSISTANT CITY EDITOR
After this year’s last-minute
campaign to make Halloween on
Franklin Street smaller and safer,
local leaders are already evaluat
ing the event and planning for next
October.
Officials said restrictions intend
ed to keep out-of-towners from
traveling to Chapel Hill and to pre
vent the alcohol problems usually
inherent at downtown Halloween
celebrations were overwhelmingly
successful.
“We’d like to build on that suc
cess,” said Butch Kisiah, director
of parks and recreation.
“One of the things I want to
make sure of is that we can do
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this two years in a row.”
The town’s Homegrown
Halloween campaign began in the
summer, when leaders, including
Mayor Kevin Foy, discussed ways
to make the event smaller and
more local.
Halloween 2007 saw about
80,000 revelers on Franklin Street,
most of whom officials said traveled
to Chapel Hill from other parts of
the state.
Concerns about the number
of attendees, alcohol abuse and
potential gang-related violence
spurred officials to implement a
list of restrictions, including shut
ting down bus service to parking
lots, setting up alcohol check
points around town and asking
Franklin Street bars to close their
doors at 1 a.m.
A plan to clear the street of
pedestrians at midnight required
the most coordination about
100 police officers on foot, riding
motorcycles, and driving cars and
buses took over the street at about
12:15 a.m..
The town even attempted to
mount officers on horses, but the
trailer carrying them broke down
on N.C. 54, preventing the horses
from reaching Franklin Street.
Town officials said the mea
sures contributed to the smaller
crowd and decrease in crimes this
year.
Officials say fewer than 40,000
people attended. Police arrested five
people, down from 13 in 2007.
“We exceeded our best guess
on how we would do this year in
terms of making it a more man
ageable and safe event,” said Capt.
Chris Blue of the Chapel Hill
Police Department. “Our sense
is, generally speaking, there were
fewer groups of people wander
ing the crowd who appeared to be
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looking for trouble.”
Kisiah said town and police
representatives have begun meet
ing to evaluate the changes and
plan for next year. Police recently
met with Franklin Street bar
owners, and town staff will sit
down with UNC student govern
ment representatives in the next
few weeks.
“The initial reactions have been
pretty positive,” he said. “Yeah we
had some alcohol; yeah we had
some folks that were drunk... but
you could just see a different atti
tude.”
Town evaluations likely will
be completed by early 2009, and
planning will soon begin for next
year.
Kisiah said most of the restric
tions introduced this year will
remain, but he hopes the town
can shrink the party zone and
close more of Franklin Street to
pedestrians during next year’s
event.
Contact the City Editor
at citydesk@unc.edu.
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A man dressed in a police uniform with a toy horse helps Chapel Hill
police officers clear Franklin Street of pedestrians on Halloween.
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