The popular Cars on 5th event in Naples is facing roadblocks.
For now, the 2027 event is in a holding pattern.
After much debate on June 17, city council rejected the application for next year’s event, with concerns that the event has outgrown its downtown venue.
City staff and the city’s Special Event Committee recommended denial of the permit, citing significant safety and parking concerns — and the repeated failure of the organizers to follow the recommended and approved operational plans for the car show, held on Fifth Avenue South.
The organizers of the charitable event hope to find a path forward, but the clock is ticking on next year’s event.
While the council rejected the application as presented, it then directed the city manager to work with the organizers to “see if there’s a way to make this event work in a safe manner,” leaving the door open for it to be revived.
Council asked for the new application to be brought back by September.
Cars on 5th turns Fifth Avenue South into a giant luxury-car showroom, packed with Ferraris, Porsches, Corvettes, Lamborghinis, Maseratis and other heart-stopping, head-turning performance models.
This year’s event — the 22nd annual event — featured more than 750 vehicles, including a strong showing of vintage, classic and antique automobiles.
A “last-ditch effort” to save Cars on 5th
Councilman John Krol made the motion to continue talks with the event organizers, saying he wanted to give them another chance to come up with a new application that’s acceptable to the city’s administration, with the support of the city’s police and fire departments.
“I’m looking to find a way to make it work as a last-ditch effort here and preserve a car show,” he said.
The community, he said, deserved the extra effort to save the long-standing event, with more guardrails on it.
With a second from Councilman Bill Kramer, the motion passed 5 to 1, with Councilwoman Linda Penniman absent.
Councilman Scott Schultz voted against the motion, insisting council had already made a decision to reject the application, and suggesting it should stick by that decision.
“This is done. Why aren’t we moving on?” he asked.
Mayor Teresa Heitmann emphasized the right for another motion to be made on the same topic, and she supported it with parameters, including that there would be no consideration of an expansion — nor the inclusion of outside food and beverage vendors — for the event.
Organizers should know and understand that the council won’t support the event unless it’s considerably reduced in size and the parking and safety concerns are adequately addressed, Heitmann said.
Council agreed that Cambier Park should be removed from the footprint of the event, in part due to the damages it caused this year, including to a softball field.
A final decision on the event is yet to come
Following the vote to continue talks with Cars on 5th’s organizers, City Manager Gary Young told council he understood his marching orders, and he thought they were fair.
“We at least know we’re not expanding it,” he said. “But we do want to preserve as much as possible, if possible. I think that’s the objective, as you defined it.”
This year’s application included a request for a new after-show dinner event.
The mayor asked to be part of the discussions between the event organizers and city staff to make sure whatever plan comes out of the discussions is “feasible,” and the city manager agreed to it.
“I don’t need to say anything,” Heitmann said. “I just want to be present.”
Council rejects organizers potential solutions
At the city council meeting, Tom O’Riordan, president of Naples Automotive Experience, who organizes Cars on Fifth, shared ideas for making the event smaller and safer next year, including shutting down Fifth Avenue South to ticket holders for six or more hours, which didn’t find support from the council.
Council members voiced legal and logistical concerns over closing a public street for so many hours.
In addressing council, O’Riordan said the biggest problem with the event is that it attracts too many people who don’t buy tickets. For this year’s event, held in January, less than 15,000 tickets were sold, yet the city estimated it attracted twice as many people to the street, including those without wristbands.
“Those people that aren’t paying are some of the people parking illegally because they won’t bother to pay,” he said. “They’re not spending any money in the store.”
This year, he said, a public street was closed for a similar event in Miami, and it worked out well.
Chad Merritt, the city’s director of parks and recreation, told council Cars on 5th is a victim of its own success, which has created issues that are difficult, if not impossible, to solve, as it continues to want to grow.
“If there’s a desire for the organizer to continue at this level, or potentially go higher, then they’re going to have to go to a different location,” he said.
The application, he said, failed to address city staff’s concerns, which have been raised repeatedly in after-action reports for the event.
Event organizers are disappointed, but remain hopeful
After the council rejected the application for next year’s event, O’Riordan told the Naples Daily News he was disappointed. At the same time, he wasn’t happy about the council getting beaten up over its decision by supporters, including through social media posts.
Even if a compromise can be reached, he said he’s not sure if the event will go on as planned next year, with so many details yet to be worked out.
“Budgets for donors and sponsors are generally being put together over the summer, so much of these dollars could be lost. September is too late. Frankly, June is almost too late. This is a complex event that takes a full year to plan,” O’Riordan said.
A charity has yet to be chosen for next year, he said, with so many questions looming over the event’s future.
He planned to start selling tickets for the event on Aug. 1, which can’t happen now without a “verdict,” he said.
“We might determine the financials won’t work. Too many unknowns to try to even calculate right now,” O’Riordan said.
To supporters, he said: “They will be able to see some great cars somewhere in 2027.”
That’s because he was already working to expand the event to “another city on the west coast of Florida” next year, he said. While it was intended to be an additional show, it could become the only one.
If Naples loses Cars on 5th, he said it’s sure to hurt local businesses, especially on Fifth Avenue South.
“In the end, we have had the show on Fifth for 21 years with no incidents,” O’Riordan said. “We have led the way in vehicle safety management plans. During COVID, we made the ticket a face mask. We have raised lots of money for charity. We bring a great crowd. It’s the biggest day for most of the restaurants and many of the other merchants.”
He argued that all of the big events held in the city come with the same risks, including the St. Patrick’s Day and Christmas parades, but they go on.
“I believe most of city council supports the show and hope something can be worked out. Perhaps this could lead to a long-term solution, so that the show and council don’t have to go through this each year. I guess it could also be a goodbye,” he said.
Laura Layden is a senior business and government reporter. Reach her by email at laura.layden@naplesnews.com.
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This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Naples council denies permit for Cars on Fifth. What’s next?
Reporting by Laura Layden, Fort Myers News-Press & Naples Daily News / Naples Daily News
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By Laura Layden, Fort Myers News-Press & Naples Daily News | USA TODAY Network
