Willamette Country Music Festival's move to Marion County raises concerns about refuge

Organizers of the Bi-Mart Willamette Country Music Festival want to move the four-day event to Marion County and more than double its size, to as many as 60,000 attendees per day.

But opposition is building over the proposed location: 692 acres of farmland bordering Ankeny National Wildlife Refuge, 12 miles south of Salem.

Opponents, including neighbors, farmers and birders, say the event has the potential to create miles-long traffic backups on Interstate 5 and through the refuge; increase theft, vandalism, litter and the likelihood of accidents at the refuge and surrounding farms; and harm wildlife at the refuge.

The for-profit event, staged in Brownsville for the past 10 years, offers camping and boasts more than 30 acts. This year they include Alabama, Kid Rock and Lady Antebellum.

If approved, the festival, scheduled for Aug. 16-19, would be the largest event ever staged in the county, Marion County senior planner Brandon Reich said.

By comparison, the L.B. Day Amphitheater at the Oregon State Fairgrounds seats about 8,900 people. The nonprofit Oregon Jamboree in Sweet Home, which competes with the festival, draws about 13,000 people per day. Portland’s Moda Center seats about 20,000. And Eugene’s Autzen Stadium has a capacity of about 54,000.

Marion County is considering applications for a mass gathering permit and a conditional use permit for the temporary use of the land, which is in an Exclusive Farm Use zone. A hearings officer will take testimony on the proposal at a public hearing Dec. 20.

Festival president Anne Hankins declined to speak to the Statesman Journal.

Marion County has received letters from supporters, including the nearby small city of Jefferson and the Jefferson School District. They point out the potential financial boost to local businesses and to area schools and nonprofits, which can earn money for volunteering at the event.

“Are there negatives? Yes, minor ones that can be overcome by cooperation of the parties involved,” Jefferson resident Edna Campau wrote. “The four-day festival will, no doubt, generate business for area merchants but the real winners will be the local nonprofits and school programs that can earn money in various ways assisting at the festival.”

But the county has been flooded with letters with concerns.

Ankeny National Wildlife Refuge officials say potential impacts include increased traffic and trash, disturbance to wildlife, increased risk of wildfire, trespass or misuse of the refuge, displacement of regular refuge visitors and increased staffing costs.

Salem Audubon Society Ray Temple said the society prefers that the event not occur at the proposed site.

“This event can in no way be beneficial to wildlife at the refuge,” Temple wrote.

If the county grants the permit, it should require festival organizers to fund a sound-monitoring program to measure the impact of loud noise on migrating shorebirds, which will be resting at the refuge during the festival, Temple's letter continued. Those results, he wrote, should be used to evaluate further permit requests.

A group of a dozen nearby farmers has hired a Portland lawyer to fight the proposal.

They say the two-lane country roads leading to the festival, some of which lead through the wildlife refuge, can’t handle the influx of traffic. They fear they won’t be able to move workers and equipment to their fields during critical harvest time, and emergency responders won’t be able to get to an accident.

And they are worried about the fact that the festival and campsites border working farms with heavy equipment, manure pits, livestock and other hazards.

“Who is liable if people come onto our property and possibly get injured,” wrote Suzanne Oswald, of Oswald Farms. “We are very concerned about theft and vandalism.”

Jimmy and Kristine Gross own the farm where the festival would be held. In a letter to the county, they said they disagree with their neighbors’ assertions.

“I believe many of the statements made by some of these folks are exaggerated and simply not true,” they wrote.

Organizers already are selling tickets. If Marion County turns down the application, the festival still is permitted in Brownsville.

The public hearing will begin at 4 p.m. Dec. 20 in the Senator Hearing Room, Marion County Courthouse Square, 555 Court St. NE, Salem. Written comments can be submitted to the above address or by emailing planning@co.marion.or.us.

The hearings officer will make a recommendation to the Marion County Commission, which will hold another public hearing early next year before making a decision.

tloew@statesmanjournal.com, 503-399-6779 or follow at Twitter.com/Tracy_Loew

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