County staff: Somewhere Fest is renting Coleman parking lot; street closure is a city decision

County staff told commissioners that Somewhere Fest has requested to rent the Coleman parking lot for the event (including staging) and that the county had not been approached about competing rentals for the same lot.

"For the Somewhere Fest, they are just renting the parking lot so that that doesn't include you know what they're doing for the Saint Francis street," staff member Tanya said on the phone, clarifying that the county's involvement is limited to the Coleman parking-lot rental. Andrew Dilts, director of facilities, told the commission, "We were approached by the Somewhere Fest organization, and they requested to rent the Coleman lot. We have not been approached by anybody else, for the same dates on the Coleman lot."

Staff and commissioners noted that a dispute reported in media coverage concerned a street-closure request, which is not part of the county's rental agreement and instead requires authorization by the Wichita chief of police. County staff said they would coordinate with event organizers as needed and that the county's rental agreement covered only the Coleman lot and staging days.