Saxonburg business owners claim proposed ordinance would hurt events
SAXONBURG — The meeting chamber at the municipal building filled beyond capacity at the monthly council meeting Tuesday evening, June 20, as citizens spoke out about a proposed event ordinance that some believe would have a devastating effect on business and events in the borough.
Council voted 5-1 to make the ordinance public by Wednesday, June 21, with Dave Johnson being the lone dissenting vote, but many could not wait to make their voices heard, their concerns not addressed since last month’s meeting.
One of the sticking points in the ordinance is an alleged 90-day approval process for events. Doug Sprankle, who runs the popular Sprankle’s Octoberfest event, contends that this would cause a chain reaction that would lead to the end of Octoberfest. Furthermore, he said canceling the event would cost him $40,000.
This is not the first time borough council has tried to pass such an ordinance. A similar ordinance proposed in 2021 caused equal amounts of controversy until it eventually was tabled.
Sprankle, the owner of Sprankle’s Neighborhood Market on West Water Street in the borough, claims to have seen the ordinance before it officially was released to the public.
“We don’t want this ordinance. We don’t like this ordinance, and it will kill events and eventually businesses in our small town,” Sprankle said. “The council need to realize that.”
During the meeting, council president Aaron Piper and other council members repeatedly stressed that the new ordinance was not intended to harm business in Saxonburg, and that all concerns would be allayed as soon as citizens take a look at the actual ordinance.
Piper was interrupted multiple times by those attending the meeting, prompting town solicitor Sean Gallagher to remind them that the time for public comment had passed.
While most of those in attendance already said what they wanted to say during last month’s meeting, more than a half-dozen people took turns at the lectern to speak about the ordinance during the public comment portion, starting with Sprankle.
“Do you know how hard it is to get sponsors, because they’re afraid you’re going to pull this again? Shocking, they pulled it again,” Sprankle said. “It’s embarrassing. I’m ashamed to call myself a Saxonburger.”
Local attorney Mike Lazaroff took issue with what he sees as a lack of transparency from the council on the ordinance and why it is necessary in the first place.
“When I was in the military, we used to call this ‘mission creep,’” Lazaroff said. “You have one stated goal, but as soon as you get that goal, you start looking for more and more, and the end result is something that was stated at the beginning would not happen.
“Frankly, many people here do not believe you. You have a credibility problem.”
Later in the meeting, council member Dave Johnston, a local business owner himself as owner of Red Door Antiques, brought up a motion to table the ordinance until at least January. The motion went to a vote, which ended in a 3-3 tie. Piper used his tie-breaking vote to strike down the motion.
“The council president used his power tonight to override the will of the council, and because of that, he overrode the will of the people,” Sprankle said after the meeting. “I thank the council members who saw the value of tabling it to our new council, and I appreciate that, and I really hope they see that this is bad for the community.”
No members of the borough council were available for comment after the meeting.
Earlier in the meeting, the resignation of council member Sherry Weinzierl was made official. Taking Weinzierl’s seat at the start of the meeting was Brian Antoszyk, who was sworn in by Mayor William Gillespie.
