The permit issue continues

The Provo Daily Herald discusses the permit issue for the attacked Utah rave. Why it took until today for this detail in reporting to be achieved is beyond me.

While the debate rages over the level of force police used to quell a party Saturday in Spanish Fork Canyon, the crucial legal question has shifted. Organizers may or may not have obtained a mass-gathering permit from the Utah County Commission — but did they need one?

[…]In addition to the health permit ensuring portable toilets, food and other health concerns, Utah County Code 13-4-2-1 mandates a security-related permit for any “anticipated assembly of 250 or more people which continues or can reasonably be expected to continue for 12 or more consecutive hours.”

The electronic dance beats began thumping at 9 p.m. Saturday in the Diamond Fork area and thrived for more than two hours before 90 fully armed SWAT members from various area teams swarmed the crowd of roughly 300.

Had authorities permitted the party to continue, event promoter Brandon Fullmer of Salt Lake City-based Uprock Records said the party was scheduled to conclude at 6:30 a.m. Sunday — a couple hours short of the limit set for the permit. Privately contracted security personnel as well as the sound technician (from Salt Lake-based Performance Audio) both confirmed they were contracted for that same time period. Fullmer and landowner Trudy Childs have retained a Salt Lake attorney who has filed formal legal requests for copies of all related documents from the health department, county attorney and commissioners.[…]

Nonsense, countered Utah Sheriff Jim Tracy. Based on 700 presold tickets and organizers’ anticipated crowd of thousands, he said authorities quite reasonably expected partygoers to linger to 9 a.m. and beyond.

Of course, Tracy has quite a history of poor judgment.
Note: Check out the picture in the first article. Looks like a gorgeous place for a rave.