The Lafayette County Board of Supervisors is considering a new special event permit for events held in the county that meet certain proposed criteria.

A special event is an event, gathering or activity including parades, bike races, marathons, fun runs, parties, concerts, carnivals or festivals. Generally, they are events outside of private, smaller gatherings residents hold on their property, like family weddings, funerals, baby showers – where there is no charge, alcohol being sold or amplified music.

Director of Development Services Joel Hollowell presented the proposed “Special Event Permit Policy” to the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday during their regular meeting.

The suggested requirements for an event where a permit would be required include the following:

• Any event on the public right-of-way
• Events of 50 or more participants where outdoor amplified sound or a live band is provided
• Events of 75 people or more where alcohol is present
• Events of 100 or more participants.

Exemptions would include the following:

• Weddings of the property owner or family and friends
• Funerals
• Private yard sales on residential lots
• Church events that are conducted solely on property owned or leased by the church
• School events that are conducted solely on property owned or leased by the school

The main reason for the permit, according to Hollowell, is to ensure that special events are conducted in a safe and orderly manner by requiring adequate provision of access, parking, sanitary facilities, utilities, security and cleanup.

Having a permit filed will also help notify the fire department and the sheriff’s office of any events where they may need to provide services.

“When these types of events are going to take place it would help the sheriff to know if he needed to be concerned about traffic control and those types of things,” Hollowell said. “Or help the fire department know if they need to be concerned about any type of medical issues.”

If approved by the board, applications for the permits must be filed 45 days before the event.

“The reason for that 45 days would be that there’s a provision in here that says that our department would review these applications and would either issue or deny it within 15 days of the application,” Hollowell said. “So that would give the applicant 30 days to appeal to you (the board) if they were denied.”

Applicants would also have to provide information on water supply, sewage disposal, solid waste disposal, parking plans and safety and emergency services needed.

The board suggested the policy be put online for the public to review and provide feedback.

Once uploaded, visit https://www.lafayettems.com/ to review the proposed policy.