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.