Colcord Avenue residents are facing a Halloween fear that is all too real now that the popular trick-or-treating spot will remain open to car traffic, unlike recent Halloween nights.
Colcord Avenue is a tried and true Halloween hot spot for Waco. Every year, something like 1,000 trick-or-treaters and parents flood the street, and many residents happily embrace the street’s status, going all out on decorations and candy. For several years, the Sanger Heights Neighborhood Association arranged for a few blocks starting at 25th Street to be barricaded for pedestrian safety. But that has required a city permit, event insurance and a security presence for the past two years that the neighborhood association cannot afford on its own, interim President Josh Caballero said.
“Don’t get me wrong, we completely understand the need and why they would request insurance and security presence for those sorts of things,” Caballero said. “To be quite honest, the city has been pretty flexible and has really worked with the neighborhood association.”
The decision not to pursue the street closure this year prompted Colcord Avenue resident Matthew Lee Anderson to submit a column to the Waco Tribune-Herald, calling for the city to “fund its own demands.”
Waco Police Chief Ryan Holt said that is not feasible for the police department, which receives dozens of requests for police service at special events every month.
“Because our police resources would not allow us to cover every event with on-duty officers, ultimately in most situations, the event organizers are responsible for coordinating police service by hiring off-duty officers,” Holt said. “There are a number of other groups that host similar events on Halloween and contract for police coverage in this manner.”
In previous years, the neighborhood association would simply request barricades from the city, set them up themselves and station volunteers near them.
“For years it happened without any barricades,” Caballero said. “About 5 or 6 years ago the neighborhood association started pursuing that, just because of the safety concerns.”
Ordinance change
When the city of Waco changed its outdoor event ordinance in 2017, the association had very little time to react. The neighborhood reached an agreement with the parks department, and the city blocked off the street, signed off on the necessary event insurance and provided the necessary officers.
Last year, the association raised money to cover the cost of the insurance and the four security officers required by the new ordinance.
“Last year, they bore the brunt of that cost, and the discussion became ‘Can we really do this every year in the same way?’ ” Caballero said.
Ultimately, they decided the answer was “no.” While the neighborhood association would be considered responsible for a planned event or party, a busy Halloween night on an open street is not considered a planned event.
“It’s kind of hard to know who’s liable,” Caballero said. “Honestly, that’s what we’re falling back to this year and we’ll see how it goes, but we know people are going to come out because it’s Halloween and that’s been a hot spot in the past.”
He said peak trick-or-treating hours tend to start at 5 p.m. and die down about 8 p.m. He said the barricades and security presence helped set that expectation.
“That’s the ideal for residents along that corridor,” Caballero said. “Don’t get me wrong, there’s still a lot of foot traffic past 8, but that’s when most residents try to start to close things down.”
Longtime Colcord Avenue resident Ed Braig said the street’s lively Halloweens are what convinced him to buy his home there 27 years ago. He said Halloween always brought in a crowd, but the numbers started to increase noticeably about five or six years ago.
“I had 2,000 pieces of candy last year and ran out,” Braig said. “It’s embarrassing to run out when there’s 16 kids walking down the sidewalk and 30 more out in front of the house, especially when you’re the house with 13 inflatable (decorations) in your yard.”
He said he has bought even more candy this year in anticipation of the crowds, and while he is excited for the holiday, he is concerned for trick-or-treaters’ safety. He said he thinks the responsibility should fall on the city to block off the road.
‘Mass of people’
“It’s on the city when someone gets hurt, because there is a mass of people expected,” Braig said. “We had more than 2,000 last time. They should do it.”
The Good Neighbor House, a community center on Colcord Avenue that opened in late 2016, has gotten in on the Halloween festivities on Colcord, passing out hot dogs and setting up games for kids to play the past two years.
One of the current residents, Joelle Axton, said the Good Neighbor house will not be passing out hot dogs this year. It will still set up games and activities outside, and move them indoors if it rains, Axton said.
Between the streetlights and the light from Halloween decorations, visibility on the street is usually fair, but parents and kids should be extra careful, she said.
“It will be a bit more difficult to trick or treat, because the street won’t be blocked off,” Axton said. “Parents will need to accompany their kids.”
Waco City Councilman Dillon Meek, who helped the neighborhood association reach an agreement with the city in 2017, also helped the group raise money for insurance and security last year.
“The funds were raised. It all worked out,” Meek said. “I’d just assumed it was all buttoned up until I read the op-ed in the Trib on Sunday. That’s the first time I learned it wasn’t proceeding as usual.”
Meek said while Colcord has a big draw, it is not the only neighborhood in Waco that attracts a lot of trick-or-treaters.
“I want it to be easy for neighborhoods to have block parties, and I welcome the conversation about how we can make that easier and better while still being governed by policy and procedure,” Meek said.
— WACOTRIB