Carrboro is preparing for Saturday’s Halloween events on Franklin Street by increasing police patrol and regulating town parking.
The police department will bring in 16 extra police officers for the holiday to ensure that out-of-towners are not using Carrboro’s parking for Halloween in Chapel Hill, police said at a meeting Tuesday.
Carrboro Town Manager Steve Stewart said local businesses need their parking lots for customers, and not for those who plan on parking in Carrboro and walking to Franklin Street.
“We want people to come to downtown Carrboro and spend their money, we don’t want them to just come here and park,” Stewart said.
Police will be on patrol at predesignated locations throughout the town to ensure that parking spaces will be used by people shopping at local businesses, not visitors walking to the Franklin Street Halloween celebration, Stewart said.
He said officers will pull over suspicious-looking cars searching for parking spaces based on the appearance of the passengers in the vehicle and ask where they are going.
“If there is a family of four not dressed in Halloween costumes, it’s likely they will not be pulled over,” Stewart said.
“Four college students dressed in costumes are more likely to catch the attention of a police officer.”
Nathan Milian, Carr Mill Mall manager, said he will not tolerate loitering in the parking lot and said cars will be towed if they are parked at the mall for more than two hours at any point in the day Saturday.
Last year four to five cars were towed at Carr Mill on Halloween, Milian said.
Local businesses are hoping their regular customers are brave enough to come out on Halloween.
The ArtsCenter is trying to draw some of the area’s younger party-goers into its building Saturday, said director of the acting program Jeri Lynn Schulke.
The center is inviting teens to Fright Night ’09, a dance party from 8 p.m. to 12 a.m. that will feature live music.
But Tyler’s Restaurant & Taproom General Manager Ciara Campbell said Carrboro residents have typically been afraid to go out on the holiday because of the crowds on Franklin Street.
“We’d like to see more people out and about in Carrboro,” Campbell said.
“Carrboro is quiet during the prime Halloween hours. The events in Chapel Hill scare Carrboro residents to stay at home on a Saturday night.”
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