Nevada County Supervisors Advance Ordinance Limiting Outdoor Events On Private Property
NEVADA COUNTY (CBS13) — A county noise concern is leading to a crackdown in Nevada County, where leaders voted to restrict the number of outdoor events people can have on private property.
The meeting lasted an entire day, finally ending with a 3-2 vote to put the restrictions in place in a move some fear could kill off a multimillion dollar business.
After almost eight hours of discussion, the Nevada County Board of Supervisors voted to approve an ordinance that will only allow four commercial outdoor events at local venues a year. The move is a blow to the local wedding industry.
Board chairman Nate Beason says regulation was needed because some outdoor events have been getting out of hand, with guests leaving trash, or being loud after hours.
"We've got a lot of unpermitted activity going on and the neighbors are not happy," he said.
But Jan Roth, owner of Roth Estates, says only holding four weddings a year won't make her nearly enough money to maintain her grounds.
"I'm going to go ahead and put cattle back on the land—cattle and pigs—thats what was there before I developed the wedding gardens," she said.
People in the local wedding industry say they tried to work with the board to come up with alternatives to separate weddings from other outdoor event restrictions.
"Pretty soon you've got a wedding ordinance and a winery ordinance and a dog kennel ordinance, it just doesn't end," Beason said.
He says the economic argument doesn't trump zoning and residents' rights.
"I think the wedding industry in Nevada County is going to be fine," he said. "It's growing. We've got more approved venues coming on; we support it we just want to make sure the people that live in residential neighborhoods have got their rights protected as well."
But people from the local wedding industry aren't so sure, saying it will likely put quite a few of them out of business.
A final vote to adopt the ordinance will happen later this month.
