DESERT RAVE RULES HEAT UP

Permit Required For More Than 200

All-night parties in the desert are not welcome.

That is the message county officials delivered this week with the
passage of an amendment requiring promoters to have a permit for
gatherings with 200 or more people.

It used to be that events on public land with less than 500 people
didn't need a temporary special event permit, but the San Bernardino
County Supervisors voted Tuesday to lower the threshold.

"Once more than 200 people show up, law enforcement can go in there and
shut it down if the party does not have a permit," said Robert Smith,
field representative for county 1st District Supervisor Bill Postmus,
who spearheaded the amendment.

"But before we had to wait until 500 people showed up, and explain to
them that they all had to go home; it just wasn't feasible," Smith said.

Although the amendment will affect all party and event promoters, it's
aimed at raves, which are all night parties popular with some young
adults, said county spokesman David Wert.

"Raves pretty much never get permits from the county," he said.

In some cases, if a temporary permit is granted, promoters must pull the
plug on music at 11 p.m., and keep it off until 7 a.m., Smith said. That
clause was included in the amendment for events near residences.

The High Desert is a popular spot with rave promoters because of its
vast of uninhabited land, San Bernardino County sheriff's Deputy Eddie
Stark said. Stark is a member of the sheriff's rave task force that
monitors illegal raves.

Each summer youths from across Southern California flock to the High
Desert, Stark said. And besides causing a disturbance and causing
traffic congestion, illegal drugs, such as Ecstasy are usually at the
raves.

"We're not going to blankly say that all raves have narcotics, but it's
been our experience that there's a high degree of narcotics being
consumed," Smith said.

"It's not the wholesome family entertainment that he (Postmus) wants in
his district," Smith said. "The desert is almost like an invitation for
these folks to come out and party hardy."

When sheriff's deputies and California Highway Patrol officers are
called out to remote areas to check on non-permitted events, the county
foots the bill for the extra expenses, he said.

"We're not going to say that we're not going to allow raves because it
would be a slap in the face to the ordinance," Smith said. "But we are
going to highly scrutinize the applications."