Promoter Appeals In Fest Shutdown

Concert promoter Dale Ihnken filed a $7.5 million suit in 2011 against several Frederick County officials, claiming his rights were violated. A judge dismissed claims against all but Sheriff Chuck Jenkins and Zoning Administrator Larry Smith and a jury in August 2015 found in favor of the two. Ihnken filed an appeal resurrecting the central issues of the case, which is scheduled to be heard in Richmond, Va., Dec. 8, according to the Frederick News-Post.

The appeal argues that U.S. District Judge Catherine Blake should have granted Ihnken’s pre-trial motion for summary judgment because the officials failed to follow due process by shutting down the festival without discussion when several noise complaints were received.

Attorney Neil Hyman told the paper in an interview that Ihnken should have had a formal hearing before Summer Solstice Projekt was shut down because permits pulled before the fest entitled the promoter to property rights at the venue, located at Hawkwood Farm in Myersville, Md. A sheriff’s lieutenant testified he gave Ihnken notice during the event that if complaints continued, it would have to be shut down, according to court documents cited by the News-Post.

Jenkins and Smith also reportedly said in a court brief they went to the festival to try to resolve the problem before pulling the plug. Ihnken alleges those statements were false, according to the paper. Noise apparently wasn’t the only problem with the festival. Jenkins also cited an allegedly unlicensed beer vendor, too few points of ingress and egress and other safety issues, though he testified he only recalled discussing the noise complaints directly with Ihnken in an effort to seek compromise.

Ihnken says he refunded tickets to the three-day festival, priced from $125 to $155 and paid the performers. Not only did the closure hurt him financially, he said in court documents, but professionally as he said performers have refused to work with him since the shutdown. An appellate judge will take oral arguments at the Dec. 4 hearing and issue an opinion at a later date.