RAVES MAKING WAVES

South Salt Lake residents are free to assemble at church or school.
But if more than 50 gather anywhere else, they might need city
permission -- lots of it.

That could be the upshot if the City Council approves a "mass
gathering" ordinance that aims to crack down on raves and other wild
parties that typically last well into the morning.

"We've had a lot of negative experiences with rave events," City
Attorney David Carlson said Thursday. "There have been six drug
overdoses . . . fighting, underage drinking, curfew and traffic
problems. Our idea is not to prohibit [raves], but to create
regulations requiring people who promote them to do so in a
responsible way."

But the proposed ordinance is not getting rave reviews from the
American Civil Liberties Union, which insists the rules go too far.
For instance, innocuous activities such as family reunions, Fourth of
July barbecues, even impromptu baseball games -- provided they draw
enough people -- might require city sanction.

"The ordinance is constitutionally flawed. If they want to target
raves, they need to tailor the ordinance so that it doesn't apply to
other activities," ACLU attorney Janelle Eurick said. "The ordinance
is too broad."

While it would not affect licensed businesses, block parties or
church or school activities, organizers of other mass gatherings
would have to:

* Get inspections and approvals from police, fire and business
licensing officials.

* Draft a comprehensive safety plan.

* Hire licensed private security and/or pay South Salt Lake police,
fire and emergency medical technicians to staff events.

* Pay an as-yet-undetermined fee for a license.

* Provide proof of insurance indemnifying organizers of "high-risk" gatherings.

If the event is for people ages 18 to 26, the proposed rules are even
more formidable. Safety plans must describe how promoters will
"prevent, detect and interdict" drugs, alcohol, fighting, sex,
lewdness and gang activity. Organizers also must ensure that minors
do not violate South Salt Lake's midnight curfew -- except for
"approved" New Year's Eve activities.

All mass gatherings would be limited to commercial or light
industrial zones and could not be within 600 feet of homes or 600
feet of businesses that serve alcohol. Large events would have to
wrap up by 2 a.m. and none would be permitted between 2 a.m. Sunday
and 7 a.m. Monday.

Police and fire officials are given total discretion to deny licenses
for events or impose any other requirements and costs they deem
necessary. The mayor can overturn denials on appeal.

"We don't want to set up a hurdle so high that no one can jump over
it," Carlson said.

But, in the ACLU's view, if South Salt Lake set the bar any higher,
event organizers would need a pole to vault over it. "It makes
getting a permit so cost-prohibitive that it constitutes a prior
restraint on free speech," Eurick said.

And letting city officials apply the rules as they go along allows
them to curtail speech and activities they find objectionable, she
added.

The curfew provision also bothers the ACLU. It would not even allow
minors out after curfew with parental permission.

City Council Chairman Doug Moffat acknowledges the rave clampdown
needs fine-tuning and, possibly, more exemptions.

While that is true, Carlson says, the city is rightfully concerned
about the number of large parties, rowdy behavior and abuse of
designer drugs -- Ecstasy and GHB -- in abandoned warehouses and
other locales.

South Salt Lake hopes to have an ordinance in place by the end of May.