Provo planning commission revokes event-center permit tied to Fuego Fridays, reissues permit limited to Enigma Events LLP

The Provo City Planning Commission on Feb. 12 voted unanimously to revoke the conditional-use permit tied to events at 1700 North State Street — the Enigma Event Center — after Provo Police presented multi-year public-safety data the department said were linked to a weekly event called Fuego Fridays. The commission then approved a new conditional-use permit limited to Enigma Events LLP and subject to the original conditions plus an added restriction that only Enigma Events LLP may operate under that permit.

The police, backed by planning staff, told the commission the problem is not the interior of the venue but activity in the center’s large parking lot. “We very strongly recommend the revocation of this,” Officer Hutchinson, Provo Police Department community resource officer, told commissioners, summarizing patrol findings and a business check of Jan. 24.

The recommendation matters because Provo’s conditional-use permit (CUP) explicitly requires compliance with hours of operation, security and orderly dispersal. Police and staff said those conditions had not been met for years despite repeated continuances and meetings with the owner and property manager.

Aaron Amar, a planner with Provo Development Services, reviewed the permit history: the CUP was approved in 2019; the business license for the Fuego Fridays concept was issued in 2021; and the commission previously continued enforcement hearings in April 2023 and May 2024 to allow the operator and property owner time to address problems.

Provo Police presented a summary of incidents from May 31 through Jan. 26 that the department tied to Fuego Fridays at 1700 North State. Officer Hutchinson said the department documented 22 cases in that span: 13 DUIs, two trespassings, one fight, three alcohol offenses and three drug possessions. Juveniles were involved in nine of those incidents; seven juvenile cases involved alcohol or drugs, Hutchinson said.

Hutchinson described the department’s business check on Jan. 24: officers observed loitering in a well-lit parking row, people inside vehicles with headlights on, one visibly intoxicated person wandering the lot, and only a single, brief security patrol that did not address people in the lot. He said officers found unlicensed security during the check, including a guard carrying a realistic BB-style replica firearm and wearing an “armed security” patch; the owner told officers he had been told by someone at an earlier licensing step that licensed security was not required. Hutchinson said the replica firearm and lack of licensed guards violated state security licensing requirements and city CUP security conditions.

Sergeants Lewis, Dupe and Shade — all with years of graveyard-shift experience — gave the commission similar accounts of frequent Friday-night calls, repeated officer-hours spent on site, underage drinking in cars and recurring DUIs linked to vehicles leaving the lot. Sergeant Dupe said crews had routinely made DUI and drug arrests at the site and noted patrols had sometimes required pulling officers off other major investigations to respond to fights or weapons calls.

Luis Castro, who said he operates the Fuego Fridays concept and rents space from Enigma Events, told the commission the venue’s interior is a nonalcoholic, nonsmoking, edited-music event and that most problems occur after patrons exit the building and return to their cars. “My purpose of LaFuego has always been to create a safe, non smoking, nonalcoholic environment for the college community,” Castro said. He told the commission he had made changes requested earlier (bike racks, a no-reentry policy) and that his attendance has fallen by about 40% since he implemented changes; he acknowledged he had not always complied with the 1 a.m. closing time listed on the CUP and said he tried to hire off-duty officers (which city administration declined) and was not aware earlier that private security needed state licensing.

Public comment split along community lines. Neighbors told the commission they had seen higher noise, drag-racing-style vehicle activity and increased patrols in adjacent residential areas. Supporters, including multiple college students and local event-industry professionals, said the Fuego Fridays concept provides a weekly, alcohol-free social option for students and argued shuttering it would push events into unsupervised, ad-hoc gatherings across the city.

After discussion, commissioners voted unanimously to revoke the existing conditional-use permit (PLCUP20190309). The commission immediately moved to approve a replacement conditional-use permit for the site carrying the prior conditions of approval and one new condition: the CUP would be tied to Enigma Events LLP by business name rather than to the address in general, preventing third-party subletting of the permit for events such as Fuego Fridays unless Enigma obtained a new authorization.

The planning department told the commission it would expedite any subsequent administrative processing needed to keep the venue’s regular business operations that are not the Fuego Fridays concept in place while ensuring the event tied to the complaints would not resume under the same permit.

Votes at a glance - Motion to revoke CUP PLCUP20190309 (1700 North State Street): approved, 6–0 (Commissioners Melissa Bridal, Andrew South, Jonathan Hill, Barbie DeSoto, Adam Shin and Chair Jeff Whitlock voted yes). - Motion to approve new CUP with prior conditions, limited to Enigma Events LLP: approved, 6–0.

What’s next City staff said a reissued permit tied to Enigma Events LLP will be processed administratively to avoid interrupting other permitted Enigma activity; enforcement will continue from Provo Police and planning staff. The commission noted the city’s code on hours of operation, commercial entertainment security and state security-licensing requirements will govern compliance going forward.