Supervisors Mull Special Event Ordinance
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Board Attorney Shannon Crow reviews an ordinance adopted in Clay County to regulate special events including trail rides during Monday’s meeting. Yalobusha County supervisors are contemplating adopting a similar ordinance to assist Sheriff Jerimaine Gooch (center) with more regulatory options for future trail rides.
WATER VALLEY – Consideration for adopting an ordinance regulating special events in the county including trail rides continues to gain momentum following ongoing discussion by the Yalobusha County Board of Supervisors. Complaints about problematic trail rides – an event people attend to ride ATVs and UTVs and enjoy music and food on private property – are the catalyst for this potential new ordinance.
Board Attorney Shannon Crow presented a copy of Clay County’s ordinance to county officials during Monday’s meeting and reported he had studied similar ordinances adopted by other counties to regulate trail rides and other special events. The Clay County ordinance was reviewed, line-by-line, as supervisors agonized about enacting a similar ordinance in Yalobusha and the decision to move forward followed input from Sheriff Jerimaine Gooch.
“It will help us,” Gooch told supervisors.
Gooch’s deputies have been vastly outnumbered and struggled to patrol trail rides held periodically at two different locations in the county, one off of County Road 66 between Coffeeville and Oakland, and another off of County Road 216 near Oakland.
There was also strong motivation to give Sheriff Gooch enforcement tools following input from Mary Dudley last month during a county meeting. Dudley explained that a trail ride held on County Road 66 near her house on May 10 created havoc. She explained that trail ride attendees had parked along the county road, blocking her from accessing her driveway for three hours.
“I was in a line from a quarter until four until a quarter to seven,” Dudley told supervisors. “There were cars on both sides of the road blocking traffic.”
One problem, cited during discussion with Dudley, is that the venue where the trail ride was held has parking available on the private property, but it was too muddy for the vehicles to access on May 10.
Before leaving the meeting, Dudley appealed to supervisors to make sure it doesn’t happen a second time.
“And we don’t want her to have to come back to a meeting,” District 5 Supervisor Gaylon Gray noted during Monday’s discussion.
Dudley’s plea is not the only complaint. Last October, District 4 Supervisor Eddie Harris told board members that he had fielded several complaints following a trail ride for UTVs (side-by-sides) and ATVs (four-wheelers) at an event on County Road 216.
During that meeting, Harris said he had reached out to the event organizer requesting that all of the trash left behind be picked up.
Two weeks later, on October 21, multiple residents who live on County Road 216 shared additional concerns about the event. The complaints included loud music that extended into the early morning hours, heavy traffic on the road and trash left behind.
The topic was discussed a third time in April when Supervisor Harris revisited the matter after again receiving multiple complaints about another trail ride held on County Road 216.
Harris reiterated prior problems – loud music, trash and parking issues. Harris also noted that with a wet spring, the vehicles tracked mud onto the county road, making it difficult to travel. Harris also said there were problems with the UTVs and ATVs traveling on county roads instead of remaining on the private property.
Ordinance Details
Details discussed Monday include requiring a permit from the county for any special event held on a public right-of-way. Permits would also be required at events where 50 or more participants gather and there is outdoor amplified sound or a live band, or an event involving 75 or more participants where alcohol is present, or any event with 100 or more participants. The proposed permit fee for a landowner who hosts a special event is $500 per event or $1,000 for a non-owner or event holder.
The permit fee would be non-refundable and the money could be allocated for the sheriff’s budget. Board President Cayce Washington noted that it could easily cost a $1,000 in overtime pay for deputies if Sheriff Gooch has to call out extra help to patrol during trail rides.
Exemptions cited in Clay County’s ordinance that were considered by Yalobusha supervisors are weddings, funerals, private yard sales on residential lots, church events and school events.
Other potential regulations in the proposed ordinance includes:
• An application requesting a permit for a special event would be submitted to the sheriff at least 30 days prior to the proposed event. The sheriff will review the application and grant approval.
• The applicant shall present a plan for the sanitary collection and disposal of solid waste from the event.
• Trash shall be removed from all county rights-of-way after the event.
• The applicant shall provide a safety plan that includes procedures for on-site first aid, medical emergencies and crowd control.
• The applicant must provide adequate private security personnel for crowd and traffic control.
• Parking is prohibited on state highways, county roads or the county right-of-way.
Following input in Monday’s meeting, supervisors instructed Crow to continue work on an ordinance for consideration and the topic will likely be revisited in July. If adopted, the ordinance will only regulate special events in unincorporated areas of the county and does not include Water Valley, Coffeeville or Oakland.
