Circus Permit Denied In East Brunswick Citing Safety Concerns

EAST BRUNSWICK, NJ – Citing community safety concerns, councilmembers recently denied a circus company permission to hold an event in town.

Do Portugal Circus, LLC had applied to hold a circus at the Brunswick Square Mall from Oct. 6 to 15.

Based on the recommendation from the police chief and the Director of Planning and Engineering, the council denied the application.

Township attorney Anthony Iacocca told councilmembers that according to the Planning Director, a mall parking lot is not designed to handle a large gathering. There was also no permitted fencing at the site, nor sufficient parking for the circus trailers, equipment and their staff.

He also noted that the circus at the parking lot would adversely impact the parking at the mall to the “detriment of patrons and business owners.”

“No application manual was provided by the applicant, so they don’t know the nature and scope of the circus operation,” Iacocca said.

For Police Chief Frank LoSacco, safety was the biggest concern as far as this event was concerned.

“As we’ve seen in prior events, a large gathering in open space is very difficult to secure and control from a public safety standpoint,” Iacocca said.

Officials alluded to the chaos that happened in town earlier this year during the L.E.A.D Fest Carnival. A 15-year-old girl from New Brunswick was charged with attempted murder and related charges in connection with a shooting near a carnival.

“Events of this nature at the parking lot do not sit well with the community,” Council President Kevin McEvoy said.

The council unanimously voted to turn down the application.

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