Planning commission moves to define 'events' after months of overlap between event‑venue, festival and agritourism rules

The Page County Planning Commission opened a multi‑month review of how the county regulates event venues, festivals and agritourism activities after commissioners raised repeated concerns about gaps and overlaps between the festival permit, event‑venue rules and protections for farm operations.

Staff and County Attorney Michael Helm framed the central problem: the county’s festival ordinance regulates gatherings “anticipated to exceed 100 people” under state code, while event‑venue definitions in the draft zoning language require a structure (a roof or wall) and permanent restrooms. That leaves a regulatory gap for outdoor events under 100 people or recurring events held at short‑term rentals or on farms. Helm noted agritourism activities can be exempt from some local zoning restrictions unless the county can show a “substantial impact on health, safety and general welfare.” “It can be demonstrated a substantial impact on health, safety and general welfare,” Helm said, describing the legal threshold for regulation.

Commissioners and staff discussed multiple practical and policy issues: whether to regulate events by size, frequency, or parcel size; how to treat events on farms that claim agritourism protections; and how short‑term rentals that advertise for events should be handled. Josh Hahn, the zoning administrator, cautioned that lowering the festival threshold would dramatically increase administrative workload: “If you lower that number to 40 in the festivals permit, then everybody who wants to have a backyard event… is having to get a festivals permit,” he said.

The commission directed staff and the county attorney to prepare a definition of “event” together with tiered, site‑sensitive rules (examples discussed included thresholds by attendee count, number of events per year, parcel size and whether permanent sanitation is required). Staff said it will draft proposed language and return to the commission within about four weeks for additional direction. The commission noted public‑safety and public‑health considerations raised by the health department (restroom capacity, septic/drain‑field impacts) and suggested the draft should also consider frequency‑based triggers (for example, multiple commercial events per year) or marketing‑based tests (advertising an event venue).