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Festival organizers push back on county regs

Oskar Blues Marketing Director Aaron Baker talks about proposed regulations governing outdoor festivals during a Planning Board meeting on Oct. 15, 2015.

Efforts to tighten permitting of outdoor festivals drew opposition last week from landowners who objected to what they described as burdensome site plans, unreasonable restrictions on noise and police intrusion on private events.

Some of the stronger objections to new permitting rules came from the Henderson County Planning Board itself.
“The one that comes to mind is Deerfields, which is in my fire district,” said Planning Board member Rick Livingston, who is also chief of the Mills River Fire & Rescue Department. “We’re sticking our noses in where it doesn’t belong. That’s just me.”
Attorney Bill Alexander, representing Deerfields owners John J. Redden and Gregory B. Redden, explained the background of the property and the business the brothers had created in order to keep the land pristine.
The 891-acre parcel at the western end of South Mills River has been in the family for three generations. Rather than “see it go into development as so many properties in the county have,” Alexander said, the Reddens protected it from development through a conservation easement. In 1998, the brothers founded Deerfields Ltd., a business that leases the property for events.
“The events range from small weddings and other activities attended by less than 50 people to large festivals attended by as many as 3,000 individuals,” Alexander said. Third parties operate the festivals under lease agreements that obligate them to provide security, emergency services, garbage collection and other management of the site.
JohnReddingDeidreReddingJohn Redding and Deidre Redding listen to a Planning Board discussion of proposed outdoor festival regulations.“Without the revenues generated by these various events,” Alexander said, “it would not be economically feasible to maintain the Deerfields property in an undeveloped state. It is from that they derive their livelihood. We believe the text amendment does substantially affect their ability to use their property in the manner they have prepared it for.”
The Planning Board spent a second meeting in a row last Thursday reviewing the proposed permitting rules before tabling the matter.
“Myself and Rick Livingston agreed to meet with the folks from Deerfields and Oskar Blues to talk about what would work best for everyone,” Planning Board Chairman Steve Dozier said this week. “I don’t want to rush into something and have to come back and readjust it. I’d rather make the right decision in the first place.”


Festival problems

The county planning staff drafted the new rules after two festivals on the same day last summer encountered problems.
A man attending the Tranformus Festival at Deerfields in Mills River was found unresponsive by a stream and later pronounced dead at a hospital. The “Burning Can” festival at Oskar Blues REEB bicycle and camping retreat off Crab Creek Road had trouble with its beer-vending permit and drew complaints about traffic.
The sheriff’s office has raised questions about the county’s rules for large gatherings, John Mitchell, the county’s director of Business and Community Development, told the Planning Board. Neighbors have complained, too.
“Some folks have called and said, ‘There’s a big event going on down the street. We thought we lived in a residential district. Has it been permitted?’” The staff has grappled with how to draft regulations that preserve property rights and protect neighbors. “How do you assure neighbors that there’s no safety concern about the event spilling over onto their property?”
One set of rules would apply to events that drew 250 to 500 people while more expansive rules would apply to events with more than 500 people.


Late night music

Festival organizers object to a draft regulation that limited live music and entertainment to 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. In the case of Deerfields, the county’s noise ordinance already addresses any problems, Alexander said. He suggested the rule should apply to events that are within 300 yards of a dwelling. “The festivals conducted on this property are essentially operating 24 hours a day,” the attorney said. The time limit would constrain the Reddens’ ability to lease their property for large events.
While the owners don’t object to filing a one-time “minor site plan” application, filing one for every festival would be “unduly burdensome,” he said.
Alexander and Aaron Baker, Brevard marketing director for Oskar Blues Brewery, both raised private property concerns over an “accessibility” rule that allowed county staff to inspect the property “for compliance with the temporary use permit.”
“While my clients understand and support the need of county staff to visit the premises to insure compliance with the site plan … to require unfettered access by staff and law enforcement during the conduct of an event, other than in emergencies and in the absence of probable cause violates both existing law and the privacy of participants,” Alexander said. “One cannot presume that regulations and laws are being violated.”


Approval authority vague

Baker said he visited the county planning department in February to apply for a permit for the July 17-18 Burning Can event. A month before the event, he called the sheriff’s department to ask for help with traffic. “From the sheriff’s perspective, they were unaware of the event,” he said. “So I think that caused some concern.”
Baker said while the bike ranch and Oskar Blues have no current plans to hold more than 12 events a year, “It is a little concerning that this would make that decision for us right away.”
Baker and Alexander also said the draft regulations’ phrase that the TRC and the sheriff’s office “shall approve the temporary use permit” is vague.
“It sort of leaves it up in the air what that approval is based on,” Baker said.
Dutch Owen of Sylva, the president of Transformus LLC, urged the board to proceed with caution.
“We have enjoyed being part of Henderson County for 12 years,” he said. “We have the site there (at Deerfields) and we don’t want to have to move the festival.” Transformus donated $2,500 to Mills River Elementary School from festival proceeds last summer, he said. “We feel like we’ve done a good job and we want to continue to be good citizens of Henderson County.”
Code Enforcement Officer Toby Linville said the permitting process would help the sheriff’s office, emergency and fire personnel and public health officials prepare for large events.
“That’s the intent of the ordinance, to make sure we’re getting ahead of that,” he said. “Keep in mind those events (last July) were on the same night. That put us in a bind that we weren’t prepared for.”