No go

Proposed special events bylaw lands with a thud

The young planners knew it was going to be a rough evening in Wellington. In Picton the night before, James Bar and Cristal Heintzman had been pummelled with questions and comments. None were supportive. Most were a mix of confusion and suspicion.

It didn’t get better on a hot and sticky Thursday evening in Wellington. Bar explained that it was a draft. A proposal. Nothing more. But it was written, and referred to, as a bylaw. A new regime of rules, regulations, costs and punishments aimed at special events on private property.

The room was filled with winemakers and farm market and agri-tourism operators. For them, this had all the appearances of the County, once again, erecting hurdles and attempting to hobble an economy it doesn’t understand.

Mary Macdonald of Stanners Vineyard listened to Bar’s presentation. But when it was over, she raised her hand, wanting to know why she had been dragged from her business on an August evening, a hectic part of the season.

“Why are we doing this now?” asked Macdonald. “Each of us is slammed running our businesses. What are we doing here.”

Bar apologized, but it was already over. He gamely tried to explain the origins of the proposed bylaw and that this meeting was a genuine attempt at seeking public consultation, but the room had turned surly.

Councillor Lenny Epstein stepped up to the front of the room to deflect some of the frustration being lobbed at the young planners. But when that failed, he joined with the crowd to denounce the proposed bylaw. His intention, when proposing it last year, was to enable more special events in the County.

Richard Johnston of By Chadsey’s Cairns Winery said the proposed bylaw did the opposite.

“This isn’t enabling,” said Johnston. “This is limiting. Tell them to go back to the drawing board.”

Andreas Erne went further. He told Bar that it was inappropriate and, indeed, wrong to prescribe and draft a bylaw when another mechanism might solve the problem in a better way.

Councillor Lenny Epstein (hat) contends with a surly crowd in Wellington last Thursday. County planners James Bar and Cristal Heintzman gamely explained a proposed bylaw that is meant to regulate special events on private property.

HOW WE GOT HERE
When Jesse Parker and Alysa Hawkins considered hosting a bluegrass camp at their home in the former Milford School in 2015, they brought their idea to each of their neighbours. Most said they thought it was a good idea. Nevertheless, somebody complained to Shire Hall. They never learned who.

Bylaw enforcement officials visited Hawkins and Parker to tell them they would have to cancel their plans. Instead, they brought it to council, where most agreed this was an acceptable activity—in keeping with the County’s promoted image—even though it wasn’t strictly permitted according to their residential zoning.

They granted Parker and Hawkins a special exemption to hold the Old School Bluegrass Camp in 2015. They also asked planning staff to figure out how to enable such events without compelling property owners with the cost and time of rezoning.

In June, Bar presented his draft bylaw. No one liked it. David Harrison described it as killing flies with a shotgun. Others complained that property owners would need to hire a lawyer to determine if they could hold a birthday party.

CAO James Hepburn stepped in to remind council that the reason this document was before them was because they had asked for it.

“It is just a draft,” reminded Hepburn.

He also underlined the extraordinary difficulty in writing a set of rules that might encapsulate the scale and nature of every conceivable special event.

Councillor Janice Maynard highlighted the challenge, “What does a special event even mean?”

Several councillors recognized this was a fruitless exercise and urged their colleagues to drop it.

But others worried some would exploit the exception granted to Hawkins and Parker.

“My concern is that one special event becomes part of a business plan,” said Athol’s Jamie Forrester. “I don’t want to see 50 or 60 special events established on zoning it wasn’t meant for. What are we setting ourselves up for?”

Some were persuaded the document, though far too complicated and cumbersome, was at least a place to start. Council decided to send Bar out for public input.

But the folks who gathered in Wellington and Picton last week were in a poor frame of mind to talk about a new restrictive bylaw. Even after Bar explained that events on commercial properties that are consistent with the business—i.e., live music at a winery or food vendors at a farm exposition—are already permitted and would continue to be permitted, most of the audience remained skeptical. The remainder were confused about why they were there in the first place.