Small vendors could soon start saving more money on event fees in Pharr.

City leaders voted to make it cheaper to host smaller, open-air events during a Monday night meeting. They said their goal is to stop treating a small farmers' market the same way they treat a large concert or carnival.

They also want to save small vendors some money. Large and small vendors will now be separated into tiers.

Under the city's ordinance, anyone hosting a special event pays a flat $500 application fee. However, after Monday's vote to make an amendment to that ordinance, two tiers were created.

City Manager Jonathan Flores says longer events that require multiple days of set-up and tear-down, like carnivals, concerts, and large festivals, would continue paying $500.

Shorter events, like farmers' markets and open-air vendor markets, would see that fee cut in half to $250.

"We wanted to reduce the price for them so that those cost savings can then get translated to the vendors," Flores said.

City staff say they'll determine which tier an event falls into during the application process and will be looking at things like the length of the event, expected attendance, and public safety needs before it's approved.

Even though the city lowered fees for smaller events, officials said they also had to balance that with the demand those events place on city staff.

Under the ordinance, organizers can now host up to two open-air events per month.

City leaders say that limit helps them plan for the police, fire, EMS, public works, and code enforcement crews needed to keep those events running safely.

"When we're going to have gatherings like this in our community that we allocate those resources to ensure the safety of our community, when we pull those resources from day-to-day operations, we want to make sure we're being as responsible as we can, putting a limit on those things really helps us manage our operations," Flores said.

City leaders say the application process is also critical because it gives them time to prepare for large gatherings.

They said that if an event expecting hundreds or even thousands of people takes place without the city's knowledge, it could create a public safety concern.