BZA puts kibosh on LIVEstock Festival

LIVEstock Music Festival, a growing tradition in Warren Township since 2018, has been denied county approval for the 2021 event.

Before the Putnam County Board of Zoning Appeals on Monday, Willer Timber Ridge Angus Cattle Ranch and Hemp Operation was denied a special exception to host the concert by a 3-1 vote.

The vote brought to an end three months of BZA meetings on an issue that brought with it impassioned testimony on both sides and a crowd of around 100 people to the east side of the Putnam County Fairgrounds Community Building.

While a number of issues were raised during more than three hours of hearing (not counting what happened in May and June) the question ultimately came down to noise.

Neighbors from several nearby subdivisions complained of the noise from the concert, particularly during the 2020 LIVEstock Festival. Concert organizer Josh Willer and father Ted Willer, owner of Willer Timber Ridge, did their best to assure the BZA that the noise would not be a problem during the 2021 event.

Before getting to their decision, though, three different BZA members cited Josh Willer’s appearance on an August 2020 podcast as a deciding factor in their decision.

In that appearance on Dacota Muckey Podcast, Willer was promoting the 2020 event when he spoke of how loud the concert could be.

“Like I said, it’s loud,” Willer told Muckey, “and we’re going to turn it up, and we’re going to push it. And I’ve had … out here in the country, we call them neighbors … but people 10 miles away say they can hear no problem but don’t come.

“So if you’re looking to play loud and turn it to 11, we’re going to let you.”

Audio of the podcast in question, dated Aug. 26, 2020, was no longer available online as of this week.

Each voting BZA member addressed the issue before casting his or her vote.

Raymond McCloud said he had been leaning toward approval, with restrictions, until he heard the podcast.

“When I heard that,” McCloud began, “that you were more or less disrespecting all your neighbors, that did it for me,”

Randy Bee said he was of a similar mind.

“This is tough because I have a tough time dictating what you can do on your own property,” Bee said, noting that he would have added stipulations if he had given his approval. “I’m not sure those stipulations would be carried out after what we’ve seen in the recent past.”

Bee was addressing jam sessions that have continued to take place at the ranch in the time since the hearings began.

Lora Scott, who presided over the meeting, addressed each of the four findings of fact that the BZA must address in giving approval to a special exception.

These are that a special exception 1) must not be injurious to the health and safety of the public, 2) must not affect the value of nearby properties, 3) will be consistent with the character of the nearby area and 4) that the board may impose conditions.

Scott said she believed that the Willers had not properly addressed concerns that the concert could have negative health impacts for neighbors, could negatively impact property values and was inconsistent with the residential neighborhoods nearby, even though the land itself is zoned as agricultural.

She added that she believed imposing conditions would do little good, as the county’s two-person staff in the Building and Planning Department would have too much trouble tracking and enforcing them.

Scott also addressed Josh Willer’s podcast appearance.

“What did it for me was the podcast and your comments on the podcast,” Scott said.

With McCloud making the motion and Scott seconding, Kevin Scobee cast the only dissenting vote.

“I guess I’m the different one because I would let you do it,” Scobee said, noting that he would impose plenty of conditions, such as restricting the time that the concert ends. “I’m only one vote. I have warmed up to it a little bit but that’s just me.”

Fifth member Ron Sutherlin abstained from voting, as he owns adjoining land and because his farm does business with the Willers.

In his opening statement, Josh Willer addressed why he had started the concert, noting that he’d been dreaming of it for 18 years and that he wanted to do something that could contribute to the community, both economically to area businesses and philanthropically by supporting local nonprofits and schools.

He did address some of the concerns that neighbors had raised, particularly that last year’s concerts went on until 4 a.m.

“It was never my intent to disrupt anybody or create an inconvenience for anybody when I created this plan,” Willer said. “I thought it would be a good idea to have hours and hours of music for people to enjoy. It did go on until about 4 or 4:30 a.m.”

He said the plan was to shut down the main stages at midnight this year.

When the time came for rebuttal, though, neighbor after neighbor voiced concerns that included not only noise but claims of trespassing, littering, property values, use of illicit drugs, fire hazards and health concerns due to hearing loss and lack of sleep.

The Willers also had their supporters, such as business owners who spoke of how the 2020 festival was some of their only income during the pandemic, how the festival promotes a sense of community and gives young people in the community a positive outlet for their energy.

Willer’s sister and father both also addressed a darker side of what has happened with the community opposition.

Sister Annie Richmond said her brother returned home to Indiana with a dream five years ago, but in more recent times, she’s had to endure some very negative words about her family in the community. She added that she hoped that none of the detractors had to endure similar venom toward their families.

In his final argument, Ted Willer spoke of how he saw some of the activity surrounding the opposition as “cancel culture,” that revealed a darker side of the community than he’s comfortable seeing.

Willer spoke of a vendor who told them he couldn’t be a part of LIVEstock this year or an institution in the community would stop supporting his business. He further told of a local non-profit whose director had previously spoken in support of LIVEstock, but was told to stop or he would lose funding.

“That should concern every one of us,” Willer said. “Even if you’re opposed to this, you ought to be concerned about that.”

Ted Willer and other LIVEstock supporters spoke several times of wanting to find a compromise, but the vote revealed it was too late for that.

Even with a negative vote, organizers were told they could reapply in a year, but that seems doubtful.

“This will basically kill the LIVEstock Festival itself,” Ted Willer said. “We’ve got too much already wrapped up in it. I thought we could find common ground. I’m sorry.”

While the concert had been held three times previously, the matter had not been a BZA issue until 2020 because of an ordinance passed in late 2019 governing the use of assembly facilities.

Following the 2020 event, the Putnam County Planning Department began getting complaints, leading to this year’s protracted battle for approval.

LIVEstock Festival had been scheduled for Sept. 17-19. As of Thursday, the festival’s website was still live and tickets appeared to still be available for sale.