City issues SXSW citations, warnings

The city’s Public Assembly Code Enforcement, or PACE, team has been responding to calls related to downtown activities since the start of the South by Southwest Conferences and spring break. On Friday (the last day figures were available), the PACE team shut down 15 venues or facilities for unauthorized gatherings and issued another 15 citations for the same thing. It also issued 20 written warning and 63 verbal warnings for minor infractions. The Austin-Travis County EMS reports that it responded to 68 incidents, resulting in 34 patient transports. These numbers reflect calls for assistance within the area that encompasses SXSW-, South Congress- and other spring break-related events. The Austin Transportation Department’s Ground Transportation Enforcement team issued four citations Friday, in addition to parking citations or written warnings by parking enforcement officers. All four were for pedicab violations.