Flagstaff City Council Recommends Denying Permits For Large Events In The City, Including The Fourth Of July Parade

The Flagstaff City Council agreed Tuesday to not allow permits for large gatherings in the city at this time due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The decision also includes the annual Fourth of July Parade in downtown Flagstaff, which attracts over ten-thousand people every July to the city. The council made the decision at their work session Tuesday afternoon. Councilmember Regina Salas proposed holding off the decision on the parade permit for closing traffic downtown for the parade for two weeks to see if the situation with COVID-19 improves. The rest of council decided to not allow permits and not wait. Mayor Coral Evans said “I’d like for us to get to August here in our city and for all the kiddos can go back to school, for everyone not to be wearing facemasks and be on the other side of this.” She added, “and I think that requires discipline on behalf of us as councilmembers, on behalf of our organization and behalf of ourselves as individual residents.” Members cited current data from health officials saying there still isn’t a downward trend of COVID-19 cases in the county or in Flagstaff. Members said as long as that doesn’t change, they can’t go along with approving permits for large gatherings in the city.