RALEIGH, N.C. — One of the biggest Halloween traditions in Raleigh, N.C., is caught in a permitting tangle, as the city now says the crowd-drawing celebration around a famous haunted house in the Historic Oakwood neighborhood needs a special event permit.
Every Halloween, thousands of trick-or-treaters fill the streets around the house at the corner of Oakwood Avenue and East Street, which is transformed with life-sized zombies, a 20-foot skeleton, a Tyrannosaurus Rex and a deejay. The homeowner handed out about 6,000 pieces of candy last year.
The gathering has been permitted as a neighborhood block party since 2014. A city spokeswoman said the event now draws more than 5,000 people, closes five blocks and is advertised through leaflets in other neighborhoods, so it has grown beyond a block party. Block party permits carry a $50 non-refundable fee.
A special event permit involves a $100 application fee and a $250 permit fee, plus an insurance policy the homeowner said could cover up to $1 million. Off-duty police officers hired for secondary event work cost a minimum of $45 per hour per officer with a three-hour minimum shift. The homeowner expects total costs in the thousands, and said he paid $1,900 last year for two off-duty officers who left when their shift ended at 9 p.m.
Neighbors worry the crowd will come regardless and want the streets closed to cars to keep children safe. The Society for the Preservation of Historic Oakwood plans to write to the city, and residents plan to address the City Council at its public comment session at 7 p.m. Tuesday in City Hall. The city said it continues to work with the homeowner.
