Pubdate: Thu, 16 Aug 2001
Source: Lewiston Sun Journal (ME)
Copyright: 2001 Lewiston Sun Journal
Contact:  http://www.sunjournal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/743
Author: Donna Perry

HEMPSTOCK CHALLENGES MASS-GATHERING ORDINANCE

STARKS, Hempstock VI, scheduled to start Thursday and run through Sunday at 
Harry Brown's farm, challenges the town's mass-gathering ordinance.

The town's Planning Board rejected an application for a permit submitted by 
Don Christen and his pro-marijuana group, the Maine Vocals, for the event 
last month, deeming it incomplete. But Christen claims that his events are 
grandfathered in Starks because they've been held for several years before 
the town tightened its ordinance this spring.

And, he said, Starks officials don't have the right to stop the group 
because the event is on private property.

Christen said he filed for the permit specifically to challenge the ordinance.

Starks changed its mass-gathering minimum in the spring. The former rule 
had required a permit for 2,000 or more people gathered for 12 or more 
hours. Starks changed its rule to require a permit for a minimum of 750 
people gathering for six hours.

Starks also amended the definition of "mass-gathering area" from being "any 
place, public or private, maintained, operated or used for a group 
gathering or assemblage" to include camping areas used primarily or 
exclusively in connection with the mass-gathering and, it said, those 
camping areas need not be contiguous. And the town added a section 
outlining noise levels during the day and evening hours.

Last year there were emergency, safety, noise and health issues during the 
event. Townspeople petitioned officials to change the ordinance and raised 
money to enforce it. A provision in the ordinance allows town officials to 
penalize violators up to $50,000. Selectmen have notified state police and 
other state officials that Christen doesn't have a permit to hold this 
week's event.

"Selectmen are prepared to take (Don Christen and Maine Vocals) to court if 
he does not comply with the ordinance or if he triggers it," Starks 
Selectman Chairwoman Cathy Cole said. "We are not out to touch his First 
Amendment rights to gather. We are concerned about the safety issues that 
come into play. Safety issues need to be addressed."

The town has dealt with Maine Vocals' events for more than a decade, she 
said, and we've seen what goes on. "This has been tried on us for 11 
years," Cole said.

The event is held on property abutting the town's water supply, and 
festival goers in the past have used it as a public toilet, she said. There 
are some common-sense issues being ignored, she said.

"I don't come poop on your water; don't come poop on mine," she said.

Selectmen are not only concerned with townspeople but with the people 
attending the event. When someone sues, they go after the deepest pockets, 
and that would be the town, she said.

"I'm quite proud of my town; they have actually gone to the middle of the 
road, in my opinion, to meet Maine Vocals halfway," Cole said.

Representatives of state and municipal agencies say there has been a recent 
upswing in the number of calls from town officials inquiring about 
mass-gathering rules and ordinances.

The increase followed an attempt by the Vocals to hold the Cumberland 
County Hemp Festival in Pownal in June, despite being denied a permit.

Christen went ahead with a July Freedom Fest in Starks without a permit. 
Because fewer than 750 people gathered, for less than six hours, Christen 
didn't violate the town's mass-gathering limit, Cole said.

The Maine Municipal Association's legal department has had an increase in 
calls about mass-gathering ordinances, said Communications Manager Michael 
Starn.

Communities have to balance people's constitutional rights to assemble with 
the rights of town officials to protect the health, safety, and welfare of 
its citizenry, he said.

For the most part, towns follow the state's guidelines requiring permits 
for gatherings held outdoors with the intent of attracting 2,000 or more 
people for 12 hours or more.

Violators face up to $5,000 fines, and/or imprisonment for up to 11 months.

The Legislature adopted minimum regulations years ago after it found that 
mass outdoor gatherings frequently create a hazard to the public health, 
safety and peace.

Typically, an ordinance dealing with mass gatherings indicates how many 
toilets are needed, sets levels of police protection, refuse disposal, 
adequate water supply and facilities, medical supplies and care, fire 
protection, traffic control, and other matters, Starn said. Towns have the 
right to enact more stringent rules than the state's for mass-gathering 
ordinances, he added.
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