The Washington County Fair Association asked the Planning Commission to allow outdoor music events at the Washington County Fairgrounds, 2537 N. McConnell Ave., under a conditional-use permit that staff recommended be approved with conditions.

Staff said the privately owned fairgrounds wants to hold roughly 26 outdoor events a year (about two per month on average) and proposed measures including orienting speakers away from nearby residences, a one-year probationary period, and a maximum attendance cap. Staff recommended approval with those and other conditions to limit impacts on surrounding neighborhoods.

The request follows a history in which the fairgrounds previously held a conditional-use permit from 2011 to 2014. Staff told the commission that outdoor events continued in the intervening years and that complaints increased in 2024 after event scale and volume grew. The proposed permit would formalize the activity and impose limits. Staff noted the venue is private property and not owned by Washington County.

Commissioners asked whether the 26-event cap could be concentrated in a shorter period (for example, multiple events over a summer) and whether indoor music would be covered. Staff said the recommended condition tied the permit to 26 events per year without a month-by-month breakdown and that fully enclosed indoor music events would not require a conditional-use permit under the city’s code. Commissioners also asked what supported the proposed 8,000-person limit; staff said that number was developed in consultation with the fire marshal’s office and that the police department had been neutral in prior conversations because ambient noise from the adjacent interstate makes measuring sound difficult.

Staff said the draft conditions include: limiting outdoor events to 26 per year, a one-year probation period during which compliance would be monitored, speaker orientation away from adjacent residential areas, and attendance limits tied to safety reviews. The packet did not include public comments specific to this application at the time of the agenda-setting session; staff said that may be due to the site’s relative isolation and that the city’s notification radius for music venues is broader than usual but may still miss some affected residents.

No formal motion or vote on the conditional-use permit occurred during the agenda-setting session; the item will appear on the commission’s regular meeting for formal action.

If the commission advances the item, staff indicated enforcement and monitoring during the first year would be part of the conditions to ensure the venue operates without becoming a nuisance.