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Salem Lakes board moves to revise Kenosha County Fair CUP; approves DASFest 2026 and limits weeknight races
Summary
After hours of debate the Salem Lakes Village Board approved a one-year addition of DASFest (July 30–Aug. 1, 2026) to the Kenosha County Fair conditional use permit, agreed to a five-year revision process, and set limits including a cap of 12 Monday–Thursday weeknight race events per season and up to five on-track late-night events per year while deferring final security staffing numbers pending sheriff-provided risk assessments.
The Village of Salem Lakes Board on Dec. 2 debated and advanced large-scale edits to the Kenosha County Fair’s conditional use permit, approving a one-year addition of DASFest for July 30–Aug. 1, 2026 while asking fair operators to return with detailed security and risk-assessment documentation before any longer-term approvals.
Attorney Michael McTernan, representing the Kenosha County Fair Association, urged clarity and predictability for the fair’s operations and warned against blanket restrictions tied to outside events such as Country Thunder. “You can’t be sitting here afraid to operate simply because it falls on the same weekend as Country Thunder,” McTernan said, asking the board for concrete guidance so organizers can plan multi‑year contracts.
Fair representative Jenny Hasson outlined a package of proposed CUP changes: permitting overnight camping May 1–Sept. 30 behind the grandstands with emergency contact procedures; changing the event‑reporting threshold from 500 to 5,000 attendees to reduce the number of CUP amendments required for routine events; and reducing the security-staffing ratio from 1 per 750 to 1 per 1,200 attendees based on the fair’s characterization as a “low‑risk” event.
Trustees pressed for documentation. Several trustees requested a written risk assessment and underlying data supporting the proposed 1:1,200 security ratio. The village’s sheriff’s representative said staffing is limited during County Thunder and that law‑enforcement resources are countywide; the sheriff’s office can provide advice but may be capacity‑constrained when multiple large events coincide.
On racing and hours, the board agreed to allow Wilmot Raceway to hold events mid‑April through October subject to a cap on weeknight events: motion language finalized at the meeting set a limit of no more than 12 races held Monday through Thursday per season. The board also approved an amendment to extend on‑track racing hours to midnight for up to five events per year.
DASFest’s addition was approved for the 2026 dates by voice vote, with trustees making clear that longer multi‑year approvals will depend on the fair providing clearer security plans and schedules for future years. The board directed staff and the fair to work with Kenosha County Sheriff’s Office and village staff to produce a written security plan and relevant benchmarks (examples from other fairs, incident histories, and any sheriff risk assessment) for the next meeting.
The board also agreed that wetland/map cleanup language in the CUP should be simplified to keep staff‑recommended redline text that reflects a wetland delineation and village‑sponsored map corrections.
Next steps: fair operators were asked to submit the sheriff’s risk assessment (if available in writing), comparable CUP language from other fairs, and a proposed multi‑year event schedule to allow the board to finalize any five‑year CUP authorization and security staffing levels.
