Lakewood, CO Special Events & Permits: Block Party Permits (2026)

Section 9.41.020 bans possessing an open container of ethyl alcohol, or consuming ethyl alcohol, "on any public highway, street, alley, sidewalk, parking lot, or other public place," but carves out an exception: "This provision shall not apply to any public highway, street alley sidewalk, or other public place for which a block party permit has been issued by the City Clerk's Office." Without that permit, drinking in the street during a neighborhood gathering is the same open-container violation as drinking on any other public sidewalk.

Chapter 9.41 does not itself lay out an application form, fee or review timeline for a block party permit, and the Municipal Code has no separate block party chapter. That gap is filled by the citywide default permitting rule at Section 1.04.060, which applies "wherever a permit or license is required by the provisions of this or any other ordinance of this city and there are no other specific provisions of any ordinance relating to the application for and issuance of any such license." Under that section, the application goes to the City Clerk, must include the applicant's data and the location of the activity, and must be accompanied by a nonreturnable $25.00 application fee, waived only for civic and charitable organizations seeking the permit for civic, patriotic, public or charitable activities. The Clerk refers the application to "the appropriate department or officer of the city for investigation" and issues or denies the permit based on that department's written recommendation. If issued, Section 1.04.060 sets a $5.00 permit fee, due at issuance.

The exception in Section 9.41.020 covers only open containers of alcohol; it does not itself authorize closing the street to traffic. A resident whose block party requires barricading the roadway still needs to satisfy whatever separate right-of-way or traffic-control approval Public Works requires for that closure.