Coalition calls for end to Chapel Hill’s Halloween celebration

A local coalition concerned about heavy underage drinking at Chapel Hill’s Halloween celebration is proposing the town discontinue the event altogether.

In a press release sent out this week, the Coalition for Alcohol and Drug Free Teenagers of Chapel Hill and Carrboro suggested that the University consider funding and holding a Halloween event on campus — ending the celebration on Franklin Street that drew a crowd of 27,000 this year.

“We see it as really nothing more than a drunkfest, and we feel that it promotes underage drinking in general,” said Dale Pratt-Wilson, director of the coalition.

The town began the Homegrown Halloween initiative in 2008 after crowds of more than 80,000 congregated on Franklin Street in 2007 for Halloween — prompting concerns about public safety and high law enforcement costs.

The coalition was part of the community initiative calling for the change, Pratt-Wilson said.

But she said she doesn’t think the change has made enough of a difference in preventing underage drinking, and it hasn’t adequately reduced Halloween costs to taxpayers.

“There is still a problem,” she said. “The crowds have diminished, but there is still drunkenness.”

This year, there were nine calls to Orange County Emergency Services, and seven of those were alcohol-related. There were also four arrests made at the celebration.

And Pratt-Wilson said costs for Homegrown Halloween were estimated at about $200,000.

“I don’t want to see my taxpayer money spent on something so unsafe,” she said.

Town spokeswoman Catherine Lazorko said unlike town events like Festifall, which the town created purposely, Homegrown Halloween was started to manage crowds.

University officials said it would be impossible to host on-campus Halloween, but UNC does help fund the event.

Last year, the University gave the town $45,000 to share in the cost of Halloween, said Dick Mann, vice chancellor for finance and administration.

He said the Chapel Hill Police Department notifies the University of how much they owe after Halloween, and they reimburse the town. He said the cost would probably go down this year, due to the 8,000-person decrease in attendance.

Pratt-Wilson said besides underage and public drunkenness, the number of scantily clad girls and the high potential for sexual assault were also factors that led the coalition to call for the end of a Franklin Street Halloween.

She also suggested moving the celebration to another area, such as East Carolina University.

But some residents want to preserve the Halloween celebration, which hosts both University students and local families.

“I feel like it’s a tradition,” said Chapel Hill resident Pat Lopp. “I would hate to see it be just a University thing.”

And the event has become a tradition for many UNC students, who wish to continue celebrating on Franklin Street.

“Halloween is part of the culture here in UNC,” said freshman Zak Smith.

“When you think of Halloween and UNC, you automatically think of Franklin Street.”

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