County special events ordinance tramples civil and private property rights
by Monte Wells
There was an ordinance presented February 1, 2022, at the San Juan County, Utah Commission meeting called “Rules and Regulations for Special Events”. The ordinance was presented to the commission by the new Director of San Juan County’s Economic Development and Visitor Services Elaine Gizler from Moab. This is not the first time this type of ordinance has been presented to the county commission. Similar ordinances were presented back in 2001 and 2017 according to local resident Carol Van Steeter. Each time the residents of San Juan County opposed the passing of the ordinance and the commission voted against them. So why is this Special event’s ordinance showing up again?
When I read the title of the ordinance and it referred to special events I thought of things like a mud bog, the San Juan ATV Safari, and things like that. I was shocked to find out it meant any gathering of 100 or more people even on private property. I was also shocked to see the health department having a say in who gets issued a permit for a special event. The following is a condensed version of the ordinance. To read the actual ordinance click HERE. It is item #13 of the commission packet.
So, what is considered a special event, “Special event” means any athletic event, entertainment event, or political event, whether held for-profit, non-profit or charitable purposes.”
The purpose of the ordinance is:
“Shall govern the time, place, and manner of holding certain special events on county roads, on county property, and on public and private property in the unincorporated area of San Juan County when an event’s impact upon health, fire, police, transportation, and other services exceeds those regularly provided in the unincorporated area of the County;”
The ordinance will “promote and protect the health, safety, and welfare of all the persons in the County, including residents and visitors, by ensuring that special events do not create disturbances; become nuisances; menace or threaten life, health, and property; disrupt traffic, or threaten or damage private or public property”
The ordinance states it is not intended “to regulate in any manner the content of speech or infringe upon the right for people to assemble.” Then it states the ordinance will regulate the time, place, manner of speech, and the assembly of the special event, but first amendment events are exempt. So, the ordinance won’t regulate the content of the speech at the special event it will only regulate the manner of speech, and the time and place of the event. It will also regulate how the assembly is planned which seems contrary to restrictions placed on government by the Bill of Rights.
The good news is that as stated above first amendment events are exempt. That is unless they include any of the following, solicitations or events that primarily propose a commercial transaction (fundraisers), rallies, races, parades, or events conducted with motor vehicles, bicycles, or footraces.” Under this ordinance, the peaceful Recapture protest rally in 2011 and the walk down Recapture, the Trump vehicle rally, the peaceful 2014 Recapture Canyon protest rally, and many other events supporting free speech, peaceful protest, and the right to assemble to petition the government for regress would have required government permission.
The ordinance states that to obtain a permit for a gathering of 100 or more people you must submit an application to the Director of Economic Development and Visitor Services for approval. That’s right the Director of Economic Development and Visitor Services of all people. Once you submit your application it has to be approved by a list of county departments to include the county Health Department. When you turn in your application you must pay a $50 processing non-refundable fee that may be waived in some cases. Don’t get too excited because there are other fees like the event level fee that can range from $100 to $500 dollars.
There are some special events that are exempt from the fees and application process like, “Events not utilizing a public road that is organized by a political party or political organization, an established religious organization, a family for the purposes of a family reunion, and school-sponsored activities, Non-Profit Organizations shall not be required to obtain a permit under this Ordinance. This all sounds good but then it says that in the instance where the event utilizes a public road, the organizing group shall comply with the approval process set forth in this Ordinance.”
What do they mean by utilizing a public road? According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary utilize means to “make use of: turn to practical use or account.” So, does that mean if people utilize a public road to get to the special event or park on a public road it’s no longer exempt? There needs to be some clarification.
There is also a minimum one-million-dollar insurance policy required for the applicant to have unless they fall into one of the following exempt groups: political event, religious event, or an organization on private property, school events on school property, events sponsored in whole by the county or a municipality, Block parties, family reunion, and events where the County or a Municipality is the primary sponsor are exempt from insurance requirements.
Just because you turn in an application doesn’t mean you will get the permit. The permit application can be denied because the event “poses a significant danger or threat to the public health, safety, or welfare, or which may result in unreasonable inconvenience or cost to the public.” The reasons listed for denial is rather vague and could apply to anything that the Director of Economic Development or the special events committee decides applies.
Special Events Committee:
Economic Development and Visitor Services Director
Public Health Director
Planning and Zoning Director
Road Department Superintendent
County Sheriff
County Chief Administrative Officer
County Emergency Medical Services
Why is public health on the committee? Maybe because they want to enforce mask mandates, covid vaccinations, and social distancing rules. So, what happens if you don’t get a permit or ignore the health department and government overreach? Well, you will be committing a Class B misdemeanor which is punishable by up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $1,000 dollars.
Throughout the ordinance, the reader is reminded that the ordinance is necessary and proper and complies with Utah Code §17–53–223. The state code states, “the County may adopt ordinances which are necessary and proper to provide for the safety, and preserve the health, promote the prosperity, improve the morals, peace, and good order, comfort, and convenience of the County and its inhabitants and for the protection of property in the County.”
This ordinance does not meet the elements of the state code despite what the author wants the people to believe. How does restricting citizens from meeting together especially on private property promote health, safety, prosperity, or improve one’s morals? How does ignoring private property rights promote anything but government overreach? How does begging the government and paying the government to be allowed to have a peaceful special event of any kind promote convenience, peace, and prosperity? There is no way that this ordinance can promote those things because it tramples our fundamental basic rights. The only thing this ordinance promotes is government control over all county and private property and more taxation/fees.
This ordinance uses the threat of force, taxation/fees to hinder the people’s right to assemble, free speech, religious practice, property rights, and more. This country was not built upon the foundation that an individual needed to seek permission or approval from the government to have a peaceful gathering of 100 or more people. Why should the people be taxed more to exercise their God-given rights to speech, assembly, worship where and when they want, and to exercise their private property rights?
This ordinance is a threat to our liberty and freedom in San Juan County and is a clear case of bad law. If we want to remain a free people, then bad laws like this one need to be stopped. The “Special Events” ordinance was tabled for further review last week at the request of San Juan County Attorney Kendall Laws. The ordinance may come back up to the commission this week so don’t wait to contact the following people and let them know how you feel about the “Special Events” ordinance.
San Juan County Chief Administrative Officer
Mack McDonald
Telephone: 435–587–3225
mmcdonald@sanjuancounty.org
Economic Development/Visitor Services Director
Elaine Gizler,
(435) 587–3223 ext 4138
San Juan County Attorney
Kendall Laws
(435) 587–2128
sjattorney@sanjuancounty.org
