Atherton: New rules for home parties Atherton: New rules for home parties (September 28, 2005)

** No permit needed for one-day events.

By Andrea Gemmet

Almanac Staff Writer

Any Atherton resident with a holiday open house, hurricane fundraiser or political event on the horizon, pay attention: The town's rules governing special events will change in October.

Under current rules, hosts don't have to get a permit for private parties, but they do if the event is a fundraiser, auction, concert or house tour open to the general public.

Under the new rules, a permit will be required for such events only if they occur for two or more consecutive days.

Events at country clubs, such as the Charity Horse Show at the Circus Club, and school events will remain exempt.

Guidelines governing the use of school property by outside groups for non-school-related activities are included in the new ordinance. After fielding a number of complaints from residents about noisy Pop Warner football games at Menlo-Atherton High School, council members indicated that they would review the school guidelines portion of the ordinance at a future meeting.

The City Council voted 5-0 to adopt the review special event ordinance at the September 21 meeting. The new rules go into effect in 30 days.

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