August's downtown Fresno Arthop to be held completely indoors

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Fresno City Council member Miguel Arias announced Friday that next month's downtown Arthop will be held completely indoors.

On August 1, all outdoor events, activities, vending and entertainment will be prohibited.

Arias blamed the heat for the move, but acknowledged there have been no heat-related issues at Arthop in the past.

He then focused on other concerns instead.

"With all the new pop-ups you see a lot more people observing, a lot more people creating a crowded situation, potentially blocking sidewalks and paths of travels," said Arias.

Vendors registered with the city are being alerted now, and code enforcement will contact vendors in person first thing in the morning on the 1st.

If they set up anyway, vendors could face fines but the city couldn't say how much those fines would be.

Arthop is an unpermitted event, meaning the city takes on the costs associated with the event, such as additional police presence.

"We kept it unpermitted so that we don't impose the approximately between $50,000 and $100,000 in city fees onto those mom and pop vendors. We were intentionally allowing Arthop to grow before we started imposing a bunch of fees, which I still think is not the right way to go," Arias said.

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Moving forward, the city is evaluating how costs associated with Arthop are covered, including using funds from the city's Measure P.

The vendors and organizers weren't consulted in the decision to move Arthop indoors.

Some artists feel blindsided by the decision, including George Hen.

"It's incredibly frustrating because we spent the 20 years building this into a market for the city like they wanted. Then they decided, 'Eh, we'll pull the rug right out from under you," explained Hen.

Although the overall event is unpermitted, some vendors do get permits, such as the food trucks that set up in the Brewery District.

"To say that we're the same as the guy that's setting up on the corner selling beers out of the cooler, it's not the same. I don't think we should be punished the same way. I don't think our vendors should be punished the same way and a lot of them it's their biggest day of the month," said Mike Oz with Fresno Street Eats.

As painful as the decision is, Oz is hopeful the move isn't for nothing and leads to sustainable and necessary change for Arthop.

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