Capacity crowd airs grievances about proposed Saxonburg event ordinance
SAXONBURG — Over the past month, borough residents have gotten a look at the first draft of a controversial events ordinance that could reshape business in the town. Many are just as unhappy about it as they have been over the last few months.
Many of those residents packed Saxonburg’s town hall on Tuesday, July 18, to air their grievances at the monthly council meeting.
The bulk of the criticism came from small business owners who fear that the event ordinance, if passed, would threaten the existence of events such as Sprankle’s Octoberfest. These events, they maintain, provide a much-needed economic boost to local businesses by bringing in people who don’t normally visit.
Lisa Blackwell, co-owner of Rustic Blossom Boutique, even posed the possibility that businesses could relocate out of Saxonburg.
“A good portion of our business for the year depends on the events, and you’re trying to make them harder for people to have,” Blackwell said. “I would have no qualms about pulling out of Saxonburg if that's what you continue to do, because if I can't make money here, there's no sense in me being here.”
The crowd for Tuesday night’s meeting far exceeded the capacity of the assembly room at the town hall on West Main Street. The crowd reached a point where borough solicitor and local attorney Mike Gallagher asked a number of citizens to leave the room, as the overcapacity posed a safety risk in the event of an emergency. Some citizens stayed to listen to the meeting from outside the room
The ordinance was not on the agenda, and Aaron Piper, borough council president, made it clear that the council would not be making any decisions on it that night.
“We’re not going to do anything to jeopardize the town,” Piper said. “We’re trying to be extremely transparent.”
However, public comment focused on the ordinance and lasted more than an hour and drew crowd reaction.
Nancy Alberth, owner of Red Door Antiques, questioned why the ordinance was even necessary.
“We’ve had many, many events for years. We've been very blessed with no major crime,” Alberth said. “We’re a tight-knit community. Everyone watches out for each other.”
Doug Sprankle, owner of Sprankle’s Neighborhood Market and operator of the popular Sprankle’s Octoberfest event, had harsh criticism for the council.
“I’ve been through this meeting a million times. Three years of my life has been wasted talking about this ordinance,” Sprankle said. “I'm offended by the fact that you keep lying to these people.”
One resident, Rob Mrozek, wondered why the council did not act on his suggestion last month to move the council meeting to the nearby volunteer fire house, where there would have been more room.
“The ordinance has created division within this community, and if you look around, you see a packed house. And you’re asking people to leave this room,” Mrozek said. “I'm asking that … anytime an ordinance discussion is to be had, it’s to be moved to a larger venue.”
A key sticking point of the draft copy of the ordinance is a section requiring organizers to obtain a special event permit no less than four months prior to the planned start of the event.
Barry Leicher, executive pastor for New Life Christian Ministries in Saxonburg, has organized an annual Fourth of July fireworks show on the Saxonburg Volunteer Fire Company grounds. Leicher claims that the four-month lead time would make it more difficult to procure fireworks.
“We contract with Zambelli Fireworks in August to September of the year preceding the event,” Leicher said. “First payment is often rendered to Zambelli as early as December to January.”
The four-month lead time isn’t the only concern. Local attorney Mike Lazaroff highlighted a section of the proposed ordinance stating that “event organizers” are liable for 100% of the “actual cost” of services provided by the borough.
“There’s no cap … there’s no definition,” Lazaroff said. “So if I or any other business owner, puts a flier in my window advertising Sprankle’s Octoberfest … by the strict definition of this, that makes me an ‘event organizer’ and I'm on the hook for every cost in this ordinance.”
Despite Sprankle’s position, council members later gave the green light to add the 2024 edition of Sprankle’s Octoberfest to the borough calendar.
“We survived another ordinance season,” wrote Sprankle on his Facebook page.
The event ordinance is available for public viewing on Saxonburg’s website.
