Linn County can impose fine if organizers ignore rules, but can't shut a festival down

By Jennifer Mood

Albany Democrat-Herald

If you're throwing a party for 3,000 of your closest friends, Linn County officials want you to get a permit so they know traffic, sanitation and other safety issues are covered.

But if you choose not to, there isn't much they can do besides fine you $500 for each day your party lasts.

That's a problem, Commissioner Roger Nyquist said, and it's one the Linn Board of Commissioners is facing again as it wrestles with a permit request from the Willamette Country Music Festival. So far, however, the commissioners have no answers.

The three-day festival is planned for late August on private property just outside Brownsville. Organizers Warren Williamson and Anne Hankins also put on a three-day festival last July.

Last year's permit request prompted sharp rebukes from commissioners who felt plans for the show were incomplete and ticket sales premature. Neighbors also complained, saying traffic would interfere with farm operations. In the end, however, the county issued the permit.

This year, commissioners voted 2-1 to deny a permit, saying once again organizers did not provide enough information, specifically on insurance, fire safety and emergency access. Nyquist also criticized a decision organizers made last year to set up a second beer stand in violation of their agreement with the county.

But commissioners agreed to hear an amended permit request, which Hankins said has been submitted. Public testimony on the amendments likely will be accepted in July, Nyquist said.

"Ultimately, the public interest is that if they're going to hold this event, they do it in a way that health, safety and welfare are addressed," he said.

Vendors complained about unpaid bills and overall mismanagement last year and urged the county to turn the request down.

"The multitude of misrepresentations made to many of us that came to support this event was inexcusable," said David Staup, who coordinated vendors in 2008. "Vendors should not have to tolerate it, nor should you as commissioners of Linn County have to condone it, either."

The county could refuse to grant a permit, Nyquist acknowledged - but little could be done to stop the show.

According to advice from the county's lawyer, calling in the sheriff to shut down an outdoor gathering is feasible only if criminal activity is occurring.

Otherwise, Nyquist said, the county needs a court order. That puts the county in the position of fighting First Amendment rights of speech and assembly, not to mention trying to get an order over a weekend and finding manpower to disperse thousands of people.

Linn faced just such a situation in 1998, when William Conde of Harrisburg was fined for holding outdoor music festivals without land use approval. Although the county later granted Conde permission for his "World Hemp Festivals," the dispute led to the creation of the outdoor assembly permit, Nyquist said.

In January, Nyquist advocated throwing out the assembly section of the county code, saying it didn't have enough teeth.

Attorneys said they'd work on it but haven't come up with anything, Nyquist said.

"The bottom line is, I think they're stuck."