Redwood Times
Unanimously but with some reluctance, the Humboldt County Planning Commission voted to cancel Reggae Rising because of the organizer's failure to meet all the conditions required by the event's Conditional Use Permit.
All seven commissioners were present for the special meeting on Tuesday evening, July 6. The final hearing on Reggae Rising had been scheduled for the commission's regular meeting July 1, which was canceled due to county planning staff's failure to properly post the meeting notice.
On July 1, Reggae Rising appeared to be doomed, as only one of a dozen agencies whose approval is required had responded positively to the event.
Because of “media misinformation” and “insubstantial, slanderous blogging,” fewer than 2,000 tickets have been sold, Reggae Rising owner and organizer Tom Dimmick told the commissioners. But, he added, if the commission approves the event, he believes he can come up with enough money to pay everyone “within three days.”
By the July 6 hearing some agencies had offered at least provisional approval. The county Department of Environmental Health gave the event a conditional go-ahead, pending approval from the North Coast Water Quality Control Board, Dimmick reported.
The WQCB gave Dimmick until July 20 to provide the required report on performance of the new wastewater treatment system. Dimmick said that the report was delayed because the engineering consultant who prepared the report is withholding it until his fee was paid. Dimmick was confident that the water quality report is satisfactory and that WQCB's approval is “perfunctory.”
While the Southern Humboldt Community Healthcare District did not write a letter of endorsement, it did provide Tom Dimmick with a receipt showing payment in full of both past due and advance payment amounts and made no objections to the festival's going forward.
Piercy Fire Protection District commissioner Jeff Hedin asked the commissioners to approve the event, a reversal of his position at the June 3 hearing when he said the Piercy FPD could not give its support until it was paid approximately $7,000 to cover both 2009 expenses and a partial advance for 2010.
Hedin asked the commission to consider the economic effects on the “border region” of Southern Humboldt and Northern Mendocino. Piercy FPD anticipates a shortfall of $16,000 on a total budget of $36,000.
”I understand that non-profits raised $400,000 in 2009,” Hedin said. “There's a lot of bathwater, but $400,000 is more than a baby.”
Dimmick also said he expected Cal Fire would approve the fire plan, which is the same as the 2009 fire plan. In addition to his oral testimony at the hearing, in an email to the agencies and county planning staff dated July 2, Dimmick explained that the same volunteer fire departments -- Piercy, Fieldbrook, and Petrolia -- are “100 percent on board. Garberville is still waiting for payment but has indicated they are on board once it is received.”
On July 1, Mike Howe, Cal Fire's Humboldt-Del Norte Unit Chief, wrote a letter to the Planning Commission stating that Cal Fire does not support the event because as of that date Cal Fire had “no evidence ... that any measures are in place for fire prevention and fire suppression.”
Howe's email continued: “The remaining time between now and the event date is not sufficient to plan and prepare the site for the event. Cal Fire will not entertain reevaluating the event status at some future date due to the very short time remaining before the concert date.”
In spite of this, Dimmick said that he has been working with Cal Fire, as well as mowing the fields and following the same fire prevention procedures as in previous years.
”Individual issues are intertwined,” Dimmick said, pointing out that Caltrans cannot approve the traffic plan until the California Highway Patrol gives its approval. CHP has withheld its approval until it receives advance payment for anticipated costs of this year's event and feels confident that the event can be held safely.
Garberville CHP Commander Lieutenant Adam Jager did not speak at Tuesday's hearing, but he has frequently stated his serious concerns about lack of advance planning and loss of experienced staff at Reggae Rising.
Dimmick responded to Jager's doubts in his July 2 email, noting that he has a “schedule of security operations” from Miller Event Planners of San Luis Obispo, who have been hired to handle security, traffic, and parking. He quotes an email from Jager saying, “I was impressed with Jim Miller... his crew can handle inside parking, traffic, processing, and security.”
Furthermore, Dimmick's email continues, “Jah Medical [is] on board to provide medical services,” and adds that Mercer-Fraser, who leases a portion of the Dimmick Ranch, will assist with parking.
Dimmick said he had verbal promises from Miller, Jah Medical, and Mercer-Fraser and was expecting written confirmation shortly. Letters from these entities had not been received by the time of the July 6 hearing, however.
Most problematic was lack of support from the Humboldt County Sheriff's Office. Undersheriff and sheriff-elect Mike Downey spoke at length to the commission.
Downey reiterated that while he believes it is important for all the agencies to be prepaid because of the event's history of delaying payment for past services, what most concerns him is the lack of advance planning.
”Planning should have started in March,” Downey said. “Where was Mr. Dimmick in March? Where was he in April?”
He also noted that Dimmick had not mentioned Miller Event Planning in his oral testimony. “Where is Miller Events?” asked Downey, adding that he had met with Miller Events representatives at an all-agency planning meeting two weeks ago and felt they had “capability.”
”Is Miller Events still on board?” Downey asked, a question that remained unanswered.
Planning commission chair Jeff Smith asked Downey if he would have been willing to meet with Dimmick earlier in the year even though the Sheriff's Department had not been paid for the 2009 event.
”From previous meetings I understood that the applicant had no access to agencies until they had been paid, so how could they do advance planning?” Smith inquired. He also asked if Downey would support moving the event to a later date this year, perhaps in the fall.
”I am 100 percent behind the applicant for next year's event,” Downey said. “I was willing to meet with him at any time in the spring in spite of the fact that we hadn't been paid.”
”What if they hold this year's event and it's not successful?” he continued, referring to the low ticket sales. “What if it goes further into debt? How many more tickets will be sold in the next 30 days?”
”There's concern that not holding the event will destabilize Southern Humboldt, but what if the event is held and lack of planning destabilizes Southern Humboldt?” Downey said.
He concluded that there are no easy answers and that the issues go much deeper than they appear.
Commissioner Dennis Mayo asked Downey whether he would have agreed to meet with Dimmick months ago.
”Yes. I had no qualms,” said Downey.
Following Downey's testimony, Smith called for discussion among the commissioners. A motion made by commissioner Ralph Faust and seconded by Mayo was still on the table from the June 17 hearing, calling for the commission to cancel the event if all conditions were not met by July 1. The motion was amended to reflect the actual hearing date of July 6.
The commissioners reached their decision quickly, although several of them recognized the importance of the event to the community, especially for helping non-profits raise money.
Mayo said he knows the event's importance is “huge,” but the responsibility for the cancellation “rests directly on Tom Dimmick's shoulders, not ours or the agencies.”
Commissioner Mary Gearheart said she agreed with Downey that the worst thing that could happen would be if the event goes forward with only 2,500 tickets of a potential 12,500 sold, driving it even deeper into debt. “This is not easy, but I can't support it,” she said.
”I always supported Reggae Rising even though it's not to my taste,” said Smith. “I'm frustrated by the lack of a proposal to move the date to the fall. It looks like it might work if there was more time for planning. But my job as a commissioner is to determine if conditions have been met, and clearly they have not.”
Although the commission's action canceled the 2010 event, the Conditional Use Permit, which was established in 2006 for a ten-year period, was not revoked, so a door remains open for future events at the Dimmick Ranch site.
During his testimony, Dimmick stated that he is still considering moving Reggae Rising to a different venue, presumably in Mendocino County. After the hearing, the Redwood Times asked him where the alternative site is, but he declined to comment.
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