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PREVIOUSLY

• Dell’Arte Was Excited to Bring Cannifest to Blue Lake. Then City Hall Threatened Legal Action.

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A series of miscommunications from the past six weeks got smoothed over at last night’s Blue Lake City Council meeting as the five-member body directed staff to work with Dell’Arte International and event organizer Stephen Gieder on planning a multi-day Cannifest event downtown in September.

Dell’Arte’s new producing artistic director, Noah Bremer, acknowledged last night that communication with the city “got off on the wrong foot” when the event’s Blue Lake relocation was prematurely announced on social media, sparking concerns among the city’s small staff about logistical issues such as parking, street closures and crowd management. 

Some matters have been clarified since then. Gieder explained that the event will not include any cannabis sales, licensed distribution or on-site consumption areas, and Dell’Arte has proposed hosting it under the organization’s existing conditional use permit. 

Blue Lake City Manager Jennie Short, who was appointed to the job in December, explained in her introduction that some of Dell’Arte’s new leadership was uninformed about the existing permitting situation. The nonprofit theater company was issued a conditional use permit for its annual Baduwa’t Festival. The latest version of that permit is open-ended, with no termination date, so, theoretically, Dell’Arte doesn’t need the city’s permission to host an event on its premises at 131 H Street.

However, Gieder is hoping to host a music, arts and trade festival that extends beyond Dell’Arte’s property to encompass some adjacent city streets. Last night, Short presented the council with an aerial map showing three potential event sizes, two of which incorporate the town square:

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Short explained that the green line represents the largest event size proposed by Gieder. It incorporates both the town square (located in the upper corner) and the Logger Bar (lower corner). 

Short also pointed out the Cannifest is currently scheduled to coincide with Mad River Enduro, a mountain biking event that takes place, in part, on city-owned fields. 

When Gieder addressed the council, he began by apologizing, saying he didn’t intend to catch the city off guard. 

“I didn’t think I needed any permits from the city to have a music event within Dell’Arte’s space,” he said. He noted that Cannifest has been invited back to every place it’s been held thus far, and, getting a bit defensive, he brought up the angry voicemail he received from city staff after announcing the event on social media.

“I didn’t think I was going to get that [kind] of a reaction from the City,” he said.

There was some back-and-forth with Mayor John Sawatzky about who reached out when, but the council soon moved on to asking for specifics about the event. Gieder described it as a “cannabis pride festival” that’s open to all ages, with farmers displaying their cannabis on tables and an evening concert inside Dell’Arte’s school facility. He estimated a maximum crowd size of roughly 1,500 people, including vendors. 

Dell’Arte Board Chair Artemis Pebdani also addressed the council.

“Dell’Arte has not been doing well, man,” she said, referring to the organization’s financial struggles. “We’re hanging by the thinnest thread. And so I’ve come on, and Noah Bremer, the new artistic producing director, has come on to try our best to revive this institution that means so much to us. And a lot of the way that we have decided that we need to do that is to use our one asset, and that asset is our building.”

She acknowledged that there are logistic hurdles to navigate. But she said Dell’Arte really wants Cannifest to happen, and she urged the city to help find solutions. 

During the public comment period, the majority of speakers expressed support for Cannifest and Dell’Arte — and applauded when others did the same. A few residents voiced concerns about parking. Lori Ponte, who lives a block away from the venue, said that while Dell’Arte has always been wonderful, she doesn’t support Cannifest at the site due to parking issues.

On the other hand, fellow neighbor Rebecca Collins said, “I’ll tell you, when the music plays at Dell’Arte when the festival is there, I open my windows and dance in my living room.”

“I know that we can work together to make this happen,” Dell’Arte alum Sarah McKinney said, expressing the dominant sentiment. 

Blue Lake Chamber of Commerce President Justin Good said that while he has some concerns about the event, he’d like to help. 

“If you’ll have us, we’d love to work with you any way we can to make this event beneficial for the community,” he said.

An organizer of the Enduro event said he’s concerned about conflicts with parking and the Mad River Grange. When the matter came back to the council for discussion, Councilmember Elise Scafani noted that parking may be the only way for the city to earn income from the event. She asked whether Cannifest could possibly be held on a different weekend.

“These events in the past have cost the city financially, rather than helped us,” she said. “So we really have to think this completely through. Not just, ‘Do we want to do it? Is it a feel good opportunity?’ But, ‘How are we going to make it work logistically?’”

Councilmember Michelle Lewis-Lusso struck a more optimistic note, saying, “I feel like this is a really great opportunity. … If there is a way, I would be all about, like, ‘Let’s make this happen.’”

Councilmember Kat Napier thanked Dell’Arte’s staff and said, contrary to rumors, Blue Lake’s current city council is not anti-pot. Mayor Sawatzky emphasized the importance of collaboration.

From there, the council started discussing how big an event the city could accommodate, whether or not to allow exterior fencing, the potential implications of blocking off the Logger Bar and other logistical matters. 

None of those issues were resolved over the course of the hearing, but staff said they felt like they had enough direction from the council to move forward. Short, the city manager, said she just didn’t want to make decisions on this level without involving the council. She indicated that Cannifest planning matters will come back before the council down the road.