Canna Fest Triggers County Commission Discussion about Regulating Special Events

By Terry Witt -Spotlight Senior Reporter

An event called Canna Fest in Lebanon Station over the weekend left Levy County Commissioner Lilly Rooks wondering whether there is a need for a special events ordinance to govern this type of event in rural areas.

An internet website billed the event as the largest “canna/MMJ/Hemp event in the southeast United States. Music was expected. Admission was $15, but VIP treatment would cost $150.

MMJ is an acronym for medical marijuana, which is legal in Florida. The website advertising the festival displayed a graphic showing a marijuana plant posted over an American flag.

County Attorney Anne Bast Brown said a notice of violation was posted at the site.

County Coordinator Wilbur Dean said the event would have needed county commission approval and a permit, but because the county was notified between board meetings there wasn’t time for board approval. Dean said the organizers avoided the requirements of the current special events ordinance by eliminating amplifiers that would have broadcast the music.

“They circumvented the process by not having amplifiers,” he said. “We posted the property and they figured out they could go around the ordinance by eliminating the amplifiers.”

Commission Chairman John Meeks said the county has no special events ordinance at this time. It has an ordinance governing music festivals and concerts with amplified music.

A call to Development Department Director Bill Hammond wasn’t returned. Hammond is in charge of enforcing the current special events ordinance. Violation of the ordinance is a civil matter.

When Hammond realized a permit couldn’t be issued by the county commission, Meeks said Hammond posted a warning that the event could be in violation of the county’s music festival and concert ordinance if loud music was played.

He said the organizers were cooperative. He believes Hammond and Sheriff Bobby McCallum handled the situation well. Regarding the special events ordinance mentioned by Rooks, Meeks said special event ordinances always raise complex questions.

“Special events ordinances, you have to be careful. You try to protect citizens, but in the process, you could hurt the people you are trying to protect,” Meeks said.

He said no group that sponsors a church gathering or a fundraiser should have to come to the county for a permit. He said the only permits issued should be for events that pose a threat to the public.

Meeks said another potential problem with a special events ordinance is the question of who would be exempted. He said he doesn’t ever want to be accused of discrimination.

“You have to be careful when you start treading down the special events ordinance road; what is allowed and what is not,” he said.

Rooks said the sheriff’s office needs tools to deal with events like the Canna Fest. They need to be able to deal with it before it turns into something like the Crab Fest in East Williston.

She said there are Williston residents who don’t like Crab Fest but are afraid to say anything publicly for fear of retaliation.

“You can see this happening in the unincorporated parts of the county but it will be creeping into the cities,” she said.

Rooks said she knew nothing about Canna Fest. She never saw any paperwork on the festival. That’s why she felt it needed to be addressed by county commissioners.

“I knew it was going to be a hot topic but it needed to be discussed,” she said.

Meeks said he got a call from the festival organizers and they asked him a few questions.

Sheriff Bobby McCallum said his deputies never entered the festival grounds in Lebanon Station. He said deputies handled traffic control outside the festival grounds and issued a few traffic citations.

McCallum said one of his deputies received a complaint from a close neighbor of the festival about loud music. He said Hammond then posted a warning they could be in violation of the ordinance governing music festivals and concerts if they play loud music.

McCallum said the sheriff’s office didn’t have any issue with the festival other than traffic. He said the ordinance dealing with concerts and music festivals is a civil matter.

“I think that’s a topic for another day. We got more problems than that. We got block parties. There’s obviously no permits for that; music that goes on all night,” he said.

McCallum said block parties sometimes draw hundreds or thousands of people and the events are unregulated. He said the parties place his deputies in great danger and he said there are always problems with the traffic on roads leading to the parties.

He said he will probably ask to be placed on the agenda of the next county commission meeting to discuss these issues. He is planning to confer with Brown in advance.

McCallum didn’t attend Tuesday’s county commission meeting. He said he had a conflict and couldn’t make it.