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Hazel Park City Council votes down permit for marijuana music festival
Spark in the Park organizers are down but not out, after a 4-1 council vote in Hazel Park. Their new mission is to find another community that can host the event.
HAZEL PARK, Mich. (FOX 2) - The Hazel Park City Council slammed the door on plans for Spark in the Park Tuesday with a 4-1 vote.
The two-day live marijuana festival featuring live music at the Green Acres park event permit was denied with the vote.
Some residents and the council raised objections including the time of the event, crowd size, and parking with 3,500 people expected.
Parking problems, security questions, noise, and pot smoke/smell were all used in the argument to oppose the festival.
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Permit for 2-day marijuana festival denied by Hazel Park City Council
A 4-1 vote put the stops to a planned Spark in the Park at Green Acres in Hazel Park Tuesday.
Attorney Thomas Levine, who represented the side that wanted the event, called the various complaints a moving target.
"First they raised one (concern), we settled everything and then we come back the next week and they come up with something new," he said. "It was unfortunate."
The park has 70 parking spots next to it, and about 70 near the event center.
"We had parking arranged, we had EMS, we had private security," Levine said. "The tents were air-conditioned."
Arguments were made about the image of the city suffering because of Spark in the Park.
"It wasn't intended for a family event, it was 21 and over," he said. "And everybody was going to be carded in order to get in."
Levine said the event will go forward - in a different city.