The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
An ordinance that would have required the hosts of private parties with more than 100 guests to register with the Township was shelved by the Township Council at its October 22 meeting.
Council members said they had concerns that the proposed ordinance was “over-regulating” what residents can do on their own property.
The proposed ordinance amendment called for a number of informational items to be provided by applicants, including parking diagrams, drawings of any tents or canopies that were to be used, and layouts of any cooking areas, benches and chairs that were planed to be used.
The proposed amendment also called for a construction permit to be issued for any tent larger than 900 square feet.
The issue was brought to the Council at its October 8 meeting by Public Safety Director Quovella Maeweather, who said it was needed to ensure public safety and regulate parking at large private parties.
“We’re not trying to fine people, we’re not trying to write tickets, we just want everyone to be happy and celebrate and do what they want to do the right way,” Maeweather said at that meeting. “We’re not going to get rich off of this. We just want to direct them to something and say, here, this is what you should do.”
Several Council members who expressed discomfort with the proposal at the October 8 meeting had not changed their opinions for the October 22 meeting.
“I understand the main reason behind this, which is to make sure that people stay safe, there’s no traffic issues, parking issues, and then in an emergency, the township vehicle can reach out,” Councilman Alex Kharazi (D-At Large) said. “But I’m not 100 percent sure that we need to have a permit for the citizens of this township to go through the application and all the other stuff that is going to come with this to just have a personal party.”
“What I believe is needed is some guidance to be provided to the community members that if you’re going to have a large party, Township is here to help guide you some of the things you can do and you can’t do, and then we can inform the public in many ways that we have so they know what are the good ways to have their special events.” he said.
“Having another permit and application and waiting for somebody to answer in the Township and even some of the details that they ask and see where you’re going to be put in the benches and so forth, I believe it’s just too much work,” he said. “So I’d like to just propose that we have a guidance and let the community members discuss it.”
Councilman James Vassanella (D-Ward 5) agreed.
“I do in general think there’s ways to do it without mandatory permitting process,” he said.
Councilman Ram Anbarasan said he was “not too keen on over-regulating a private party in a house. While the problem, I get it, it’s a traffic issue that a street may not be able to hold so many cars at a party. How do we know that there are going to be, that there are 100 people? Let’s say somebody has a 98-person party, they are exempt from this rule, yet they’re going to have the same number of cars as a 100-person party.”
“So, I think this ordinance is misplaced,” he said. “I’m not too thrilled about it.”
“Yes, I understand that we have to provide a safe parking environment for gatherings, private gatherings,” Anbarasan said. “I think that can be done maybe on a more on a guidance basis like Councilman Kharazi suggested. I’m not too keen on this particular ordinance as it is written.”
Deputy Mayor Ed Potosnak said that he liked the idea of registering, “and with that, maybe there’s a few things that you get, like a checklist, like the Councilman Kharazi mentions, for guidance, and the ability then to stay active with your party, to let’s say 11 o’clock at night instead of the noise ordinance, which is 10 (p.m.).”
“I don’t feel like it’s a government overreach to say, if you’re gonna have 100 people at your house and you wanna go later than the noise ordinance, please take a moment to fill out a form in advance so that you know that everything’s going to be above board, and you’re not going to have your wedding for your child shut down somehow because of something,” he said.
Potosnak said that requirements such as submitting scale drawings of the event space “seem like a lot for a homeowner to go through.”
“Next they’ll be asking for architectural satellite drawings and 3D models to bring in or something, which might be fun, but really doesn’t get to the point, right?” he said.
Potosnak motion that the amendment be sent back to the Council’s Administration sub-committee for further review was unanimously passed.
There was no time frame set for the Council’s reconsideration of the proposed amendment.
