Battle At The Orchard
A Scott County judge has ordered an end to a three-month concert series at the Minnesota Harvest Apple Orchard in Jordan but the property owners aren’t giving up.
“We’ve had [live music] for a couple of decades under one circumstance or another outdoors,” orchard co-owner Topper Sponsel told Pollstar. “We do have a right to appeal.”
The ruling upheld a July 6th temporary restraining order requested by the county to stop Minnesota Harvest’s “Pickin’ In The Dark” series, which kicked off July 15th with
At issue is the county’s new interpretation of Minnesota Harvest’s conditional-use permit issued in 1990. Officials have said “rock concerts” aren’t listed in the language as live music.
“This really does get down to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” Sponsel said. “We know it’s a hard battle but we’re not giving up.”
Meanwhile, concerts featuring
The search is also on for alternative venues to host concerts by
“We are looking at options about playing them at Minnesota Harvest or at other locations probably closer to us than Rochester,” Sponsel said. ” It’s just a lot of negotiating to work out but right now, we have the potential for putting all of those on.
“We’re just days into the court order and we’re trying to find the best fit for everything that we’re doing.”
— Tina Amendola
