A circus and two auctions will take place at the Columbus Fairgrounds this week now that the Columbus City Council voted Tuesday to allow events where no alcohol will be sold to be held at the fairgrounds.
The unanimous vote amends a blanket moratorium the council imposed on fairgrounds events at its Jan. 3 meeting. The council issued the moratorium after fairgrounds property manager Jane Jordan allegedly violated a city ordinance that requires property owners renting fairgrounds facilities for gatherings of more than 100 people where alcohol will be consumed to apply for an event permit with the city.
Mark Jackson, an attorney with Tompkins Law Firm, represented Jordan and her nonprofit — the Columbus Fair and Livestock Association, which owns the fairgrounds — at the meeting. He argued events such as the circus and auctions should not fall under the moratorium because they don’t require a permit from the city to take place.
“There’s no basis in that ordinance for establishing a moratorium on all events, permitted or non-permitted,” Jackson said.
City officials issued the 90-day moratorium on the fairgrounds after 25-year-old Jeremy Wells was shot in the parking lot during a private party on Dec. 26. Jordan had not applied for an event permit prior to the party, telling the council she had not known how many people would attend and that there wasn’t supposed to be alcohol consumed.
Ward 2 Councilman Charlie Box moved to amend the moratorium after Jackson spoke.
“I think this is a reasonable request that they’ve brought forward tonight, and I think the fact that she has retained a lawyer shows us that she’s serious about what she’s doing,” he said.
The Collier Auto Auction is scheduled for Thursday night at the fairgrounds. A community auction is scheduled for Saturday at 5 p.m., and the StarDust Circus is scheduled for Saturday at 7 p.m. Tickets to the circus were being given away prior to the council’s lifting of the moratorium.
Calls to the circus were not answered by press time.
Moratorium stipulations
The city enacted the ordinance requiring certain events to obtain permits after a 2014 shooting death at a graduation party on the fairgrounds.
Since then, the fairgrounds has secured permits for 19 events, at which there were no issues with violence. The permits, which must be applied for at least five days in advance of an event, make law enforcement aware of the event and signal officers to raise patrol efforts in the party’s vicinity.
At the Jan. 3 meeting, council members told Jordan they may lift the moratorium before 90 days if she presented an adequate security plan at a council meeting that met with city officials’ approval.
At Tuesday’s meeting, Ward 6 Councilman Bill Gavin told Jackson he was concerned that Jordan had not taken responsibility for failing to obtain a permit.
“She took no responsibility at that time she stood up here for the actions that occurred,” he said. “I just felt like that was very strange for someone that was in charge of an operation, that they wouldn’t follow through and make sure that (everything was) done properly, especially if it’s their duties. …That’s why we asked…for a plan to be put in place to show us what she plans on doing to provide protection moving forward.”
Jackson said he would have such a presentation prepared for the Feb. 7 city council meeting.
Though Gavin voted to amend the moratorium, he indicated after the meeting he was still concerned about private events at the fairgrounds.
“Who’s going to be overseeing those?” he said. “Who’s going to apply for a permit? Who’s going to be finding the security for it? How many people are going to be allowed there? Those are things I think that have not been dealt with in the past that need to be dealt with moving forward if (Jordan)’s going to continue that venue. Personally, I would like to see her skip the venues and not do (private parties).
“It’s just common sense,” he added. “Any time you have 300 people together at a party where there’s alcohol, there’s a good chance that there’s going to be some mischief.
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