Temporary street closure application guidelines

Purpose
If you are planning to temporarily close a street in order to hold a social, recreational, community or athletic event, you must apply for a street closure permit. The most common events of this nature are block parties organized by residents on a given street block, community festivals, foot and bicycle races.

The street closure permit gives you permission to have the street closed to vehicular traffic for up to 4 days as long as local access for residents and emergency vehicles is maintained while you hold your event.

A report is required to be submitted to Community Council for City Council's approval under the following conditions:

1. road is closed for more than four days;
2. event requires the closure of expressways;
3. at the discretion of the General Manager of Transportation Services;
4. unresolvable objections.

When to apply
Once you decide to close the street for your event, you must advise the City of Toronto of your proposal at least eight weeks before the actual date of your event. However, if you are planning a major event, such as a race or large street party, we strongly recommend that you apply at least three months in advance. This ensures sufficient time to work out details ensuring the safety of everyone who will be participating in the event, community notification, and City Council approval, if required.

Who can apply
Anyone can apply to close a City street temporarily for an event. However, it is best if the application is submitted by a person holding a responsible position in the organization sponsoring the event who is informed about all of the activities taking place during the event.

Feess
There is no application fee. However if your application is approved, you will be charged a permit fee ($73.66 + HST). You can pay the permit fee by cheque or money order payable to the Treasurer, City of Toronto. We also accept Visa, MasterCard or American Express.

If the City of Toronto grants permission to temporarily close the road, the applicant will be responsible for the costs associated in carrying out the following items:

• Hire pay-duty police officers or security personnel, if applicable
• Arrange for barricades, road closed signs and any other appropriate traffic signs, or traffic cones for the event
• Pay for the loss of revenue incurred from the bagging and locking of the parking meters/machine
• Pay for additional costs incurred by the City of Toronto
• Hire a private garbage collection company or arrange for volunteers to collect and remove garbage accumulated during and after the event
• Provide a Certificate of Insurance to the City of Toronto
• Arrange for equipment (ie. tents, stages, etc) associated with the event

Required information
The following information is required in order for the application to be considered:

• Complete the Application for Street Events in the City of Toronto
• Complete the Application for Noise By-law Exemption
• Proof of notification to the residents/businesses affected by the closure informing them of the details of the event
• Provide an Event Schedule outlining what will be happening within the road closure
• Plans must be attached to the completed application form and drawn to scale and provide the following information:
  • Location of the road closure--indicate the name of the street and any intersecting streets affected
  • Indicate if this a partial or full road closure
  • North directional arrow
  • Indicate what will be placed on the road within the area of the closure (ie. Tents, tables, stages, generators, barbeques, etc.)
  • Indicate a six metre wide portion of the street to be kept clear at all times for emergency vehicle access

Pertinent information
When planning your event, keep in mind that you cannot charge a fee for admission to the street closure.

If you are planning to serve food, you must comply with the regulations outlined by Public Health. In some cases, the event organizer is responsible for providing washroom facilities (ie. portable toilets) on site for their event.

If alcoholic beverages are to be served during the event, the event organizer should immediately contact the following parties to obtain approval:

• Written application to be submitted to Community Council outlining the details of the road closure (ie. purpose of the road closure, date, time and location). Community Council will review the request and make their decision which will then be referred to City Council requesting that they adopt their recommendation.
• Written application to be submitted to the Licensing and Registration Department of the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario for a liquor licence.

If you are planning on installing a tent on the road that is erected more than three metres from other structures and occupies a total area of not more than 60 square metres (646 square feet), a building permit is not required. If the size of the tent exceeds an area of 60 square metres (646 square feet), you must obtain a building permit from the Permit Services Section of Building Division.

If heating generators are to be used in connection with the tent, please ensure detailed information is provided along with the type of fuel used to operate the generator. If generators are to be used during the event, please ensure they are silenced generators.

If there is live or amplified music at the event, please ensure that all music ceases at 11:00 pm as a courtesy to your neighbours.

Once the event is over, please ensure that all debris accumulated during the road closure is collected and removed prior to the street being re-opened to vehicular traffic.

Refusal of permit
The application for a road closure can be denied if an objection cannot be resolved under the following situations:

1. Written objection is received from an area resident or business proprietor directly affected by the road closure; and
2. Objection is received from a respondent to the circulation of the application

The applicant has the right to appeal the refusal of the application by writing to Community Council outlining the reasons why the application meets the criteria of the by-law.

Contact information