Q. Under what authority can the city of Madison close off a public street, allowing only those who pay a fee to gain access to it?

A. The city's annual Halloween extravaganza on State Street, Freakfest, is unique among city events in this regard. Public streets are closed to traffic all the time for everything from political rallies to block parties. But Freakfest, which dates to Halloween 2006, is the only event city community events coordinator Kelli Lamberty can remember that involves not only closing the street to traffic, but closing it to pedestrians who haven't paid an admission fee.

As with other street events, Freakfest needs a city street-use permit. The city council also passes resolutions to arrange for security and to allow Freakfest's promoter to book vendors and bands and collect an admission fee, among other things.

Back in the summer of 2006, when city officials were trying to figure out how to best get control of what had been an unsanctioned and violence-marred annual State Street Halloween celebration, city attorney Michael May wrote an opinion that laid out the legal rationale for what became Freakfest.

In it, May pointed out that the Halloween celebration had "constitute(d) the classic definition of an unlawful assembly under Wisconsin law."

"(I)t is my opinion that the city's police power authority, together with the obligations of the chief of police to maintain order, clearly are broad enough to allow the city to close off streets and assess a fee to enter streets as crowd control efforts ..." he wrote.

The State Journal's Footnote will try to explain the often heard, but perhaps not widely understood, phrases, ideas and controversies in the news. It runs weekly on Thursdays.

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