City Council Approves Alcohol Sales at Fall Festival

An estimated 5,000 people attended last year's alcohol-free Fall Festival. Menifee 24/7 photo: Doug Spoon

Editor's note: The Menifee Fall Festival & Oktoberfest, sponsored by the City of Menifee and Menifee Valley Chamber of Commerce, should not be confused with the Menifee 24/7 Truck or Treat HallowFest, presented by RE/MAX Diamond. They are separate events with separate sponsors on two different weekends.

The Menifee City Council Wednesday night approved an agreement with the Menifee Valley Chamber of Commerce on the sharing of revenue from vendors at city-sponsored events, at the same time approving the sale of alcohol at a Beer Garden planned for the Oct. 29 Fall Festival.

Robert Lennox, community services director for the City, told council members that the city was an "unofficial partner" with the Chamber on special events last year and that the proposed Memorandum of Understanding was intended to formalize that partnership. In his presentation, Lennox said that revenue from vendor booth fees at special events would be split, with the Chamber receiving 70 percent and the City 30 percent. At events where alcohol sales are approved, the split would change slightly to 60-40.

Special events included in the partnership would be:

-- Fall Festival in October
-- Christmas Tree Lighting in December
-- Spring Fest in April
-- Music & Arts Festival in May
-- Movies in the Park in July/August
-- Summer Concerts, June through August

The action recommended by staff for council consideration included two parts:

1. The Memorandum of Understanding on revenue sharing.

2. A decision on whether alcohol should be sold and served at city-sponsored special events.

Item No. 1 was unanimously approved with little discussion. The bulk of the discussion centered around the second item regarding alcohol sales.

Three people from the audience spoke in favor of the approval of alcohol sales, speaking specifically about plans already being made for a Beer Garden at the Fall Festival & Oktoberfest. These included Chamber of Commerce board members Karen Nolan and Stu Blaze and Grace Santiago, representing Mason Jar Brewery of Menifee.

"There won't be hard alcohol -- only beer and some wine," Blaze said. "The Beer Garden will be fenced off at the opposite end from where children's activities are. There will be limits on the amount of alcohol sold to each person."

Representing Menifee 24/7, Kristen Spoon told council members that the local news organization's intent when creating a Halloween Festival in 2013 was to provide a family friendly environment with the priority being a children's costume contest and trick or treating. No alcohol was served at the Menifee 24/7-sponsored events in 2013 and 2014, nor last year, when Menifee 24/7 partnered with the City of Menifee and moved the festival from Wheatfield Park to Audie Murphy Sports Park.

Spoon said Menifee 24/7 left its partnership with the City for the 2016 festival after the Chamber of Commerce was allowed into the group and planned the Beer Garden, with approval from the community services department. Citing concerns about having alcohol sold at an event that includes a children's costume contest and trick or treating, Menifee 24/7 has returned its event to Wheatfield Park and has rebranded it as the Truck or Treat HallowFest, in partnership with realtor Cynthia Nemelka of RE/MAX Diamond. That event, which will feature the traditional costume contest, vendor booths and about a dozen food trucks, will take place Oct. 22.

Council member Lesa Sobek spoke out against the idea of alcohol sales at the Fall Festival, saying, "I don't have a problem with alcohol at city events, but I believe it would be a problem at an Easter event or Trick or Treating event. What would you say to the message we would be sending to the youth at a children's event?"

A motion by Sobek to send the item to the Parks, Recreation and Trails Commission for further consideration failed 3-2, primarily because of council members' concerns that the delay would adversely affect plans by the Chamber and City for this year's Fall Festival. Ultimately, the Council voted 4-1 to approve alcohol sales for the Fall Festival and to send the item to the Parks, Recreation and Trails Commission regarding a policy for alcohol sales at other special events. Sobek was the only opposing vote.

"People should have choices," said council member Matt Liesemeyer. "I've thought long and hard about this and the burden it places on my shoulders if a parent doesn't handle this responsibly. But I believe it can be monitored and it's something a large majority of the city would enjoy.

"It's also an opportunity to showcase one of the businesses in the city," he said, referring to Mason Jar Brewery.

Mayor Scott Mann said he was "concerned about having a set policy just for the Fall Festival, but it might be prudent to approach the policy generally by sending it to the Parks Commission. Let's move forward with the Fall Festival as planned and send the rest to the Parks Commission for consideration."