Though Ohio University and Athens officials have met to discuss the future of street fests in the city, Palmer Street landlords do not see the need to evict the spring parties.
City and university officials met during the week after April’s Palmer Fest, when the street party ended prematurely because of an arson and a riot evacuation.
Since then, residents and officials have said landlords need to take a more active role in maintaining the fests but that no effort to make that happen has been made.
Christi Carvour, office manager at Bobcat Rentals, and Scott Hunter, co-owner of athensohiorentals.com, said officials haven’t reached out to them for their perspectives on the fests.
Bobcat Rentals owns eight properties on Palmer Street and Hunter owns one.
Despite potential property damage, Carvour and Hunter said they don’t want to see the street fests end.
“I mean, honestly, I just don’t want destruction to my property,” Hunter said. “People can have fun. They just have to stay safe.”
Bobcat Rentals sends out a letter to its tenants on the street before Palmer Fest in an effortto prepare them for the party and to remind them of laws that must be followed, Carvour said. The letter states that tenants should take things such as underage drinking and out-of-town partiers into account.
“We’re just worried about people getting out of hand and not using common sense,” Carvour said.
Bobcat Rentals also alerts its tenants when the property will be inspected by the city, which helps make sure they clean up, Carvour said.
Both Carvour and Hunter acknowledge that the famous fest increases the demand for properties on the street.
Though Bobcat Rental properties are insured for damage, Carvour said she strongly advises renters to purchase renter’s insurance for additional coverage.
Some landlords, such as Hunter, have built restrictions into their properties’ leases that cap the number of people allowed in the house, though Carvour said Bobcat Rentals does not include that in its contracts.
Hunter said his restrictions, such as how many people are allowed on a second-floor balcony, are to promote safety in the house and that the fire at Palmer Fest was a reminder of what can go wrong. He added that he has never enforced his restrictions.
“I always have a clause stating that people cannot go up onto the roof,” Hunter said. “I just want people to be safe. The fire was an eye-opener for me.”
City Council President Jim Sands said that though Council has not yet involved itself in fests this year, he believes government and landlords must work together to prevent future emergencies at street fests.
“I think it is something that both parties need to be involved in,” Sands said. “From what I read in the papers, the landlords don’t seem to be too interested. We will see, now that 9Fest and fest season is over, if anything comes before City Council.”
However, as Hunter acknowledges, there really isn’t anything local government can do to prevent the fests.
“It’s not up to me whether or not they continue, but even if City Council bans them, everyone will obviously keep having them,” Hunter said. “It’s not like, if someone says the Halloween celebration is no more, that everyone will just stop doing it.”
Mayor Paul Wiehl was unavailable for comment.
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