Activists, Starks exchange potshots Town, Maine Vocals each file lawsuits

STARKS – The legal battle between the pro-marijuana group Maine Vocals, sponsor of the annual Hempstock festival, and this Somerset County town is heating up.

Starks filed a lawsuit last week against Maine Vocals and its leader, Don Christen, saying they violated the town’s mass gathering ordinance by holding last summer’s Hempstock without a permit.

The defendants also were cited for exceeding limits set out in the ordinance regarding maximum crowd size, duration of an event and noise levels.

Christen and Maine Vocals have responded by filing a counterclaim, alleging that the real purpose of the ordinance was to run the festival out of town.

Christen said Thursday the ordinance was so restrictive that it was impossible to comply. His lawyer, Hal Weisberger, said the noise limit of 45 decibels after 10 p.m. is so low that a barking dog or a tractor-trailer rolling through town would be in violation.

The suit seeks unspecified damages, alleging that Maine Vocals suffered economic loss because of heightened police presence throughout the four-day event last August.

Christen went ahead with the 11th annual Hempstock, despite the town planning board’s denial of a permit that would have allowed more people and noise. The board stated that his application was incomplete.

“The ordinance is restrictive to the point where nobody can comply if they wanted to,” Christen said. “They’re just trying to get rid of us.”

Christen said he has obeyed the state’s mass gathering limits set at 2,000 for more than 12 hours and a 70-decibel level limit after 10 p.m.

“The town of Starks thinks it can change the state laws any way they want, but they have to be reasonable,” he said.

Starks town attorney Ken Lexier said he hopes the town’s motion for a preliminary injunction to block next summer’s festivals can be heard as soon as possible.

Christen said he plans to go ahead with his 2002 summer plans and has set the date for his three annual music festivals: Freedom Fest, July 19-20; Hempstock, Aug. 15-17; and Harvest Fest, October 4-5. All are held on Harry Brown’s farm, just up the hill from the town office.