Usually, the way it worked was if anyone wanted to have a party on their block, they would write the date requested on a piece of paper with a rain date, get some signatures (in cases just one or two), and send it in to get approved during a Mayor & Council meeting. Sometimes it would be a week before the party.
Such requests have become more formal this year with the Borough Clerk’s office having residents fill out a form that lists restrictions and guidelines. The only problem is that almost no one is aware that the new form exists. The borough website has no mention of it on their Forms section (link) and no members of council seemed to be aware that new regulations were in place.
In Roselle Park, the Chief of Police is the authority who actually approves the closing of a street but the new form has no sign-off nor mention of the Police Chief for record keeping purposes. Instead, applicants are asked to submit the form to the Borough Clerk’s office although it does not state that such forms can be faxed or scanned and e-mailed and does not provide a fax number nor e-mail address.
The most major change in block party requests is that such requests are to be presented to the Borough Clerk’s office one month prior to the actual block party. The complete list of “Rules to Obey for a Block Party” are:
- Your request must be presented at least one (1) month before the date of the Block Party
- The majority of the block must agree to have the party
- Do not block off streets with any vehicles. DPW will provide barricades, cones, tape etc. Emergency Vehicles must have access to street during Block Party Failure to comply is subject to a fine.
- Music must end at 10pm, NO LATER
- Please be sure to clean up after your Block Party
Whether such a significant change needed to be reviewed by the Borough Attorney or formalized through a resolution so at least the governing body should be aware of the change and not provide incorrect information to their constituents has not yet been publicly addressed.
An editable PDF version of the Block Party Request Form can be viewed/downloaded below: