Special Events Permit In Works Fee Would Help Cover Costs; Farragut Wants Concerts

Kootenai County leaders say they want to make sure promoters - not taxpayers - foot the bill for safety, traffic and sanitation at outdoor events.

County planning commissioners will consider a proposed special events ordinance on April 19 that would require organizers to purchase permits for events, such as outdoor concerts, that attract 500 or more people.

Sheriff Rocky Watson has been pushing for the ordinance, which was modeled after ordinances in cities as far away as Hilton Head, S.C.

“I don’t want to restrict anybody,” Watson said. “I know the parks want bigger events. With that, I want some controls to see that it’s done properly.”

Farragut State Park officials are seeking concerts for its two outdoor amphitheaters, one that seats 65,000 and another that seats 5,000.

Al Leiser, assistant park manager at Farragut State Park, said no concerts are planned, but the park has the facilities to support them.

The Farragut amphitheaters were built in the 1960s for Girl Scout and Boy Scout jamborees.

“It’s been something I’ve been kicking around for 18 years,” Leiser said. “We are not going to start right out of the gate with a 65,000-person concert.”

Instead, Leiser envisions smaller concerts that could attract paying day users, thus increasing revenues for the park.

Leiser hopes the park could become as successful as the Gorge Amphitheatre in George, Wash.

“Obviously we’ve seen where (Gorge promoters) have gone with it. They have made huge money,” Leiser said. “If it’s done right, why not? The possibilities are wide open.”

Leiser supports the county’s special events ordinance.

“We will work with (county officials) to where we are all on the same page,” Leiser said. “We say go for it.”

The ordinance would not apply inside city limits and at established venues, such as the Kootenai County Fairgrounds.

For example, a wedding reception with 500 guests at the Coeur d’Alene Resort would be exempted. But a reception of 500 people in a farmer’s field would need the new permit.

Commissioner Ron Rankin said he supports the ordinance.

“All we are asking for is to put the liability on the promoter,” Rankin said. “The idea is not to penalize taxpayers to clean it up.”

The last thing that Watson, Rankin or Leiser want to see is a repeat of a concert that went bad in 1976 at Stateline Speedway.

Watson, the assistant police chief at Post Falls at the time, responded to the concert where 3,000 rowdy fans took over.

The concert was overpromoted and underfunded. Three bands were booked but refused to play because they hadn’t been paid, Watson said.

“The kids jumped onto the stage and it went downhill from there,” he said.

The crowd set fire to concession stands, stole all the beer out of the beer trucks and then raced the trucks around the track.

“We had 10 officers. What were we supposed to do - take on 3,000 people? We were so outnumbered that we just closed the road and kept them in there,” he said. “We just let them tire themselves out.”

Rankin said the county has a picture of someone driving a stolen beer truck through the bleachers.

“It was really bad news,” Rankin said.

Leiser said planning and cooperation with the county would help to avoid another Stateline incident.

“We don’t want to have one outrageous concert and watch the place go up in flames,” Leiser said. “I don’t want that to be my legacy.”

Farragut has the parking, traffic access and location. A promoter would need to bring in security and portable toilets.

“One of our challenges as an Idaho State Park is to run more like a business,” Leiser said.

“We have the capability of generating what I would hope to be some respectable revenues.

“If any park is going to do it, we would be the one.”

This sidebar appeared with the story:

FAST FACTS Who needs a permit

The proposed special events ordinance would cost organizers about $275 and would be required for “outdoor musical concerts, festivals, fairs and carnivals, which may be expected to have or do have 500 or more people at any one time.”

The permit also would be required for “sporting events which require temporary structures, including grandstands and tents, and which may be expected to have 3,000 or more people at any one time.”

The application process is expected to take about six weeks. However, if at least one person sends in a comment of opposition, a public hearing would be conducted.

The permit would not apply for events in city limits or events at the Kootenai County Fairgrounds.