Coordinating special events with the Special Event Permitting Solution

ArcGIS Solutions help you make the most of your GIS by providing purpose-driven, industry-specific configurations of ArcGIS.

Special events are non-routine activities within a community that bring together a large number of people. They drive economic development and are vital to quality of life but also place strain on community resources and often require special permits, planning, preparation, and mitigation of increased safety and security risks.

Special events require tremendous collaboration between government departments. Roads may be closed, additional police and fire services required to protect attendees, new food service vendors inspected, and additional trash pickup services required during the event.  As a result, an event permit will typically be issued by a coordinating agency and used to coordinate the allocation of government resources. Understanding where special events are being planned helps streamline permit applications and ensures temporary assets and restrictions do not negatively impact the community.

The Special Event Permitting solution delivers a set of capabilities that help local governments collect permit applications and event site maps, coordinate the permit review process, gather feedback during permit review, share approved permits with stakeholders, and promote events occurring in a community.

Streamline permit workflows

The Special Event Permits ArcGIS Hub site allows special event coordinators to share permitting information with event organizers so you can reduce calls to the office and increase transparency. From this site, a form allows you to solicit permit applications from event organizers and capture relevant information to begin the permit review process.  Event organizers will use ArcGIS Hub Premium community accounts so they can start a permit application and go back and complete as needed.  They will also see all their historic permit applications that they can copy as a basis for similar events.

Special event coordinators use the Special Event Manager app to manage the status of permit applications and solicit feedback from internal stakeholders so you can process permits in a timely manner. Managing the permit or event review process and backlog of permit applications can be a challenge encumbered by paper or email delays. Coordinators can change the status of the permit and notify the organizer that they need to create a site map.

An event site map is a foundation of the event. It provides a common reference for planning, operating and promoting each event. Site maps include the event location, event assets, designated areas, and routes required to conduct the event. These event assets are critical for public safety personnel and other local government agencies that may staff the event, as well as public works, parks and other departments that help prepare for the event. Using their community accounts, organizers will have access to edit site maps just for the events they created using the My Special Event Site Map Editor app. The event coordinator also has the ability to edit site maps for all events using the Special Event Site Map Editor app.

Once site maps are created, internal stakeholders often represented from several other departments can provide their feedback in the Special Event Permit Review app. The special event coordinator can review all comments and then decide if the permit should be approved or if more information is needed from the organizer.

Special events play a significant role in local economies.  As a result, local government executives must understand the events planned for the community and how they might impact public safety and other services. The Special Event Permit Dashboard is be used monitor the status of permit applications so you can ensure service level agreements and key performance metrics are being met.

Increase public awareness

Finally, on event day, authoritative event maps can be shared to the public. The Special Event Calendar is an app that can be used by the public to view special event maps. Only events that the special event coordinator have approved and that are in the future are displayed in the app.

Applying operational workflows

Special events also pose unique challenges for public safety agencies, as well. If you also represent a public safety agency that requires the ability to plan and monitor public safety operations capabilities, you may be interested in the Special Event Operations Solution. For those interested in permitting capabilities and public safety operational capabilities the Special Event Permitting and Special Event Operations can be deployed at the same time to work together.

Learn more

For more information about the Special Event Permitting solution, check out the following resources:

• Learn how to deploy, configure and use the solution.
• View a demo video.
• Learn more about ArcGIS Solutions.
• Chat with us on Esri Community.