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City to Step Up Permit Enforcement Over SXSW

Jeff Heimsath for KUT News
Enhanced permit enforcement could mean more violations for businesses, vendors, and venues over SXSW.

Planning to put an event on thisSouth By Southwest? Well, you'll need a permit for that.

With just over a month until Austin’s South by Southwest festival begins, the city’s special events office has received a flurry of permit applications – everything from noise permits, to food service, to construction permits for big soundstages.

It’s typical of this time of year. But the enforcement of these permits will be extendedthis year, says the Transportation Department’s Gordon Derr.

“The emphasis is to make sure we cover all the periods when there’s activity going on downtown, and really throughout Austin, because it seems to grow out and out every year," Derr said.

Previously, the city focused more on the music festival and less on the film and interactive portions of the ever-expanding festival. The city said that the permit enforcement would ensure the safety of attendees, and that the permit applications have expanded in tandem with the festival's consistent yearly growth.

The City of Austin will hold a permit application Q&A this evening for vendors and business owners at One South Center, 505 Barton Springs Road, starting 5 p.m.  

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