Black Mountain mayor questions police chief’s Halloween decision

Local first responders cite depleted resources in pulling support for trick-or-treating on Church Street

Fred McCormick
The Valley Echo
October 30, 2024

Black Mountain Police Chief Steve Parker speaks to the town council, Oct. 30, regarding his department’s plan for Halloween. Photo by Fred McCormick

A decision by town officials to not provide the assistance of police and firefighters for a local tradition that draws thousands of visitors to the normally quiet neighborhood around Church Street in Black Mountain was questioned, Oct. 30, when Mayor Michael Sobol asked police chief Steve Parker to reconsider. 

Citing depleted resources related to Tropical Storm Helene and a town-sponsored event in Town Square on the same night, Thursday, Oct. 31, the Black Mountain Police Department will not block vehicles from entering the roads, where neighbors are preparing to celebrate Halloween. 

Parker announced, Oct. 17, the department would not assist with traffic control around the neighborhood for the holiday. The chief encouraged locals to participate in the town recreation and parks department’s inaugural Halloween event in the center of downtown. 

Sobol, in the town council’s latest meeting, asked elected officials to direct staff to provide three employees to assist on Church and Connally Streets and Laurel Circle from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. 

“I spend quite a bit of time on Church Street, and I’ve spoken to the people who live on the street, and they are going full bore with this,” Sobol said. “The main thing they want is to make sure there is safety. You have almost 3,000 people out there, during that time, with adults and children.”

The department plans to increase and enhance its patrol throughout the entire community while supporting the event in Town Square, the chief responded. 

“I’ve informed them on how to go about doing it safely, if they decide to do it, just like any other neighborhood,” Parker said. “But, as we said a week and a half ago, we just don’t have the resources to do it this year. That’s why we’re doing the town square (event).”

While the number of officers varies from year to year, the Black Mountain Police Department typically controls traffic at the crosswalk at Montreat Road and Laurel Circle, while blocking nearby access with law enforcement vehicles and barricades. This fall, as the town recovers from an unprecedented natural disaster, the department is devoting security resources to supply distribution sites in Black Mountain, Parker told the board.

No entity organizes or advertises Halloween in the neighborhood, where residents began decorating and donning costumes more than 30 years ago. The number of trick-or-treaters has been increasing steadily since the early 2000s.

Black Mountain Mayor Michael Sobol asked the local police department, Oct. 30, to consider closing off the roads around Church Street for Halloween, when thousands of trick-or-treaters typically descend upon the residential neighborhood. Photo by Fred McCormick

On Halloween of 2018, the department reported nearly 1,500 people walking into the neighborhood from the east side of Laurel Circle, with many coming from surrounding counties and other parts of Buncombe County. Last year, residents of the neighborhood reportedly tallied the number of trick-or-treaters by distributing more than 2,000 individual pieces of candy. Those figures did not include adults supervising the children. 

Town Councilmember Doug Hay, who intends to take his family trick-or-treating in the neighborhood, asked the chief about the possibility of placing barricades on the streets to stop non-residents from entering. 

“So, I’m not enhancing or supporting any of it, because there is liability with all of that,” Parker replied. “If the fire or police departments need to respond, it has to be done appropriately. There are ways road closures have to be done, so for me to sponsor this, there would be liability for the town.”

Sobol disagreed. 

“If we go ahead and start talking about liability for the town, the town has done this for the past decade or two,” he said. 

The mayor added he was “disappointed” that the town was unable to support the tradition. 

“I think it’s a liability if you tell somebody to put up a barricade, and then something happens,” Sobol said. 

Vice Mayor Archie Pertiller, Jr. called the mayor’s request “selfish.”

“I totally understand Halloween on Church Street, and I participated in it for years,” he said. “At some point, we have to realize it’s not all about us. We have to think about the first responders who put in so much time these last 30 or 35 days.”

No motion was made by the town council, following the mayor’s request.