The decades-old street party that has come to be known as “Halloween on Citrus Grove” is a lawsuit waiting to happen, district staff told the Indian Trail Improvement District Board of Supervisors at their Wednesday, Aug. 21 meeting.
ITID Executive Director Burgess Hanson urged supervisors to distance the district as much as possible from the event, which, in theory, is supposed to happen along the sidewalk and swales and in the yards along Citrus Grove Blvd. However, in practice, large crowds spill onto the ITID-owned street with all-terrain vehicles and motorcycles mixing with families and small children on foot.
“It has become too large,” Hanson said. “It’s no longer a neighborhood event, or even a community event. It has become a regional event. People from everywhere are coming.”
Some of the supervisors agreed.
“It’s definitely a party atmosphere,” Supervisor Patricia Farrell said. “It’s not a matter of if but when somebody is going to get hurt.”
As an alternative, ITID Parks & Recreation Director Kenny Lawrence recommended a district-sponsored parade on Saturday, Oct. 26 from Citrus Grove Park at the corner of Citrus Grove and Avocado boulevards west to Hall Blvd., then north to the Nicole Hornstein Equestrian Park. Trunk-or-treat stations would be set up in the arenas with kid-friendly events located in the surrounding park, and food trucks and bathroom facilities would be available.
The supervisors voted 5-0 for the plan in May, ITID President Elizabeth Accomando noted. “It has a ‘Headless Horseman’ theme, so it works with the equestrian park,” she said.
Hanson explained that at the urging of its insurance company, the district is trying to separate itself as much as possible from the block party. The current plan is for Citrus Grove Park to be closed to the public and to hire a Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office deputy to be stationed in the park to protect ITID property. ITID is charged with maintaining roads, drainage and parks within its boundaries.
In the past, the park has been open to the public during the Halloween event with appropriate security.
Now, however, the new plan is drawing pushback from ITID Supervisor Betty Argue, who suggested that the Hornstein event would do nothing to change the Oct. 31 neighborhood event.
“Halloween is a big deal in our community,” said Argue, who is seeking her third term on the board in the Nov. 5 general election. “This [block party] is what the community is doing. Going against what the community has done every year — I can’t support that.”
Argue said that even if the board wanted to shut down the Citrus Grove event, it would be nearly impossible because the block party happens organically.
“There’s no committee to go to… no single person in charge,” she said. “We have to be involved because it’s our roads. I do not support trying to excommunicate ourselves from it.”
However, some people have already expressed concerns about the scale of the block party.
“I’m hearing that parents don’t want to bring their little ones because it gets too crazy,” Accomando said. “If we do it on our own event, at least, we’ll have some control over what’s happening.”
Argue said that she does not support the Oct. 26 plan at the Nicole Hornstein Equestrian Park because there is too little parking, and the equestrian venue is not designed for such an event. She suggested that Acreage Community Park is the only realistic location.
Hanson said that moving the event to Acreage Community Park could interfere with previously scheduled Acreage Athletic League games and practices.
“I support doing it within the confines of [Citrus Grove Park] and creating a safe space” during the traditional Halloween celebration, Argue said.
In the end, the board made no final decision on if, when or where to host an alternative event.
“We’re not trying to stop [the block party], but we need to limit our liability,” Accomando said.
Hanson said he appreciates that the block party has become a tradition but emphasized that if someone were to be seriously injured during the revelry, “we’re the ones who are going to be left holding the bag.”
Argue voiced her disagreement and urged Citrus Grove homeowners to come to ITID’s Sept. 18 meeting to share their views.
