PORT ANGELES — By midnight Friday, a loud 36-hour concert at the KOA Campground had prompted 18 calls to the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office from neighbors, and the music was expected to continue through Saturday night.
“I got no sleep whatsoever,” said Jane Elvrun, who lives about a half-mile from the campground and was one of those who complained.
The round-the-clock event, which began at 9 p.m. Friday and was scheduled to end at 7 this morning, was too small to need a festival permit.
The music contest, called “DJ Jungle Fever,” was expected to draw 800 guests to the campground, located at 80 O’Brien Road.
Clallam County Undersheriff Ron Peregrin said Saturday that under county ordinances, permits are required only for events with more than 1,500 attendees.
Events using commercial amplification systems are exempt from noise ordinances, Peregrin said.
The commercial exemption from the county’s noise ordinance is one of five noise exemptions on the county books, Peregrin said.
Because no laws were broken, the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office had no authority to turn down the music, he added.
Peregrin said several deputies were at the event for much of the night Friday and would be present again Saturday.
Event organizer Counter Culture Entertainment rented the entire campground for the weekend, set up two stages and provided campsites for paid guests.
Peregrin noted that the organizers went through all the proper channels for the event, including hiring private security.
Went through proper channels
They organized a fire plan, notified the State Patrol about the increased traffic in the area, notified the Sheriff’s Office and arranged for parking at a nearby church so concert-goers would not clog the roads, he said.
“The county administrator determined that they did not need a permit,” Peregrin said.
The KOA Campground has a capacity for 1,000 guests.
An estimated 200 to 300 were present Friday night, and more were expected to arrive Saturday, Peregrin said.
In a DJ contest, the object is to create a crowd-pleasing mix of music and sound effects using recorded music.
“This kind of music likes to be loud,” Peregrin said, noting that the campground managers asked the musicians to turn it down and erected sound barriers.
Unfortunately for neighbors, the barriers were not very effective, he said.
Deputies were monitoring the crowd to make sure attendance remained below the 1,000-guest threshold, he said.
In 2008, Clallam County Sheriff Bill Benedict considered asking for a new noise ordinance, but a groundswell of opposition ended the attempt without a proposal going to commissioners.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.
