CITY PLANNER VOWS TO BLOCK ALL-NIGHT DANCE

A pair of promoters who say they want to show central Arkansas that
all-night dance parties known as raves can be clean scenes have again run
afoul of Little Rock officials.

Little Rock Planning Director Jim Lawson -- who lives about a quarter-mile
from the site of an Oct. 5 event called "Adrenaline" -- said Friday that he
would try to block it through city zoning ordinances.

The event, originally scheduled for the Riverfest Amphitheatre in downtown
Little Rock, was relocated to a more rural area near Maumelle Park off
Arkansas 10 after city officials said the amphitheater was in a public park
and all city parks must close at 1 a.m.

The concert will include electronic music from eight disc jockeys and is
expected to draw from 1,000 to 5,000 teens and young adults.

"The perception of this is such that the city doesn't care that we've spent
$50,000 on this," said promoter James Ply. "They don't care that we're
trying to make this different from past events others have held."

Ply declined to comment further Friday but did say that he and his business
partner, Tim McHugh, have retained an attorney.

All-night dance parties have resulted in worries about the presence of
illegal drugs. Ply and McHugh have said they will strive to keep their
event drug-free and will have drug-education booths available and have
invited parents to attend.

However, other dance parties have had problems. Earlier this year, the
founders of Cybertribe, a company that promoted raves in the Little Rock
area, were charged by federal officials with conspiracy to possess Ecstasy
and intent to distribute. And a 17-year-old Hot Springs youth collapsed
during an Aug. 10 rave in Little Rock and later died. Traces of Ecstasy and
another drug were detected in his system.

Adrenaline's new site at 8700 Pinnacle Valley Road near the intersection of
Beck Road, is just outside the city limits. But Lawson said the city
retains jurisdiction on areas near city boundaries to protect the property
for future annexations. Little Rock zoned the land where the all-night
dance party is planned as R-2 residential 23 years ago.

"It will bring in thousands of people onto a road that doesn't have a
traffic signal," Lawson said. "Part of the issue is traffic safety, but the
overriding concern is that it's a violation of our zoning ordinance." A
zoning violation carries a maximum fine of $500.

Lawson said he didn't think there was a difference in the zoning laws that
regulate established business and one-time events.

"We're not going to allow it," Lawson said. "It's illegal."

But City Attorney Tom Carpenter said Friday that he wasn't so sure.

"There's a difference between a zoned area within the city and planned area
outside of it," Carpenter said. "If they were making some kind of permanent
changes like building a road or an amphitheater, that would be one thing.

But you're talking about a one-time event on somebody's private property.

"I don't think we have any authority to stop it from happening or even
penalize them if a zoning violation does occur," Carpenter said. "Yes,
there could be a potential fine of up to $500 but I'd be hesitant to pursue
that until it could be shown the city has been vigilant in pursuing every
other such case."

While there may be questions on whether the city has authority to shut down
the event, Pulaski County officials are also looking at the issue.

"We were concerned about the whole situation," said John Rehrauer,
spokesman for the Pulaski County sheriff's office. "We're concerned about
any neighbors who might be out there, any traffic problems and the kinds of
roads that are out there."

After consulting with Pulaski County's attorney Karla Burnett, the
sheriff's office decided that enforcing the county's noise ordinance, which
is in effect from 10 p.m. until 7 a.m., would be a more direct and
effective method of eliminating any potential problems.

"We've notified the promoters of our plans to enforce that," Rehrauer said.
"They were not overly pleased to hear that."

Burnett said the county has no policies for issuing permits for special events.

"The only ordinances we have that would address this would be the noise
ordinance," Burnett said. "And that's enforced based on complaints received.

"But there are other state criminal laws that could apply such as
disorderly conduct and creating a disturbance," she added.

Lawson was unsure if a potential zoning ordinance fine of up to $500 would
be a realistic deterrent to promoters who say they've invested $50,000 in
the event.

But he said if promoters ignored the city's notice of possible violation
and started constructing staging, the city could seek a court injunction.

Lawson said his actions are driven by public safety concerns.

"There's a great need for a traffic light at the intersection of Highway 10
and Pinnacle Valley Road," he said. "It took me 45 minutes to get out this
morning. If you put 3,000 kids out there, someone is going to get killed."

John Burnett, a lawyer and board member of the Arkansas chapter of the
American Civil Liberties Union, said central Arkansas isn't the only
community trying to block the all-night dance parties. He said the ACLU
could take a more serious look at the issue if similar efforts are made in
Arkansas.

"There's been a general backlash of officials trying to whip out everything
they can think of to, in effect, ban raves," John Burnett said.

This article was published on Saturday, September 29, 2001