The Uhrichsville ordinance committee, consisting of council members Bob Baker, Polly Clark, and Scott Whitman, may revamp legislation regarding special events.
Two members, Baker and Whitman, were not on council when ordinance 7-24 was approved in May 2024.
The committee discussed the matter after Baker brought up how specifically the farmer’s market and Christkindle market left the city.
“Talking to a gentleman from Dennison [who said] we like that ordinance. It’s helped us greatly.” Baker added, “I don’t want to necessarily rescind it but do something about the fee structure. They went to Dennison and they’ve had no problems. What were we doing wrong? Is Dennison getting a financial benefit?”
Dennison administration says they do not charge an event fee, but street closure paperwork is filed and voted on by council.
Clark said, “the city didn’t get anything from [events] and the streets were all blocked.”
Clark and Law Director Jeff Merklin noted safety and liability concerns.
Merklin added that, “for free you’re letting people come here and doing what they wanted to do. We got nothing and I about fell over the potential liability. [The ordinance] was trying to balance it a little bit.”
Baker said the rules require event organizers to pay a roughly $125 fee per day. It was noted that if the city hosts an event, then the fee is waived. The named non-profit market shifted to every Friday between June and August, which would amount to around $1,600 paid to file city permits.
Other raised concerns were events wanting to sell alcoholic beverages and people walking around with them in hand.
Future discussion on reviewing the ordinance is expected.
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