SAXONBURG — More than 80 business owners, organization leaders and residents filled the borough council chambers and lobby to capacity and spilled out onto the sidewalk in front of the borough building Tuesday evening to voice their opposition to a new event ordinance the council was expected to vote on.

Before the public comment portion of the meeting, Sean Gallagher, borough solicitor, explained that the purpose of the proposed ordinance was to promote safety and community welfare, recoup expenses incurred by the borough during special events and safely control traffic and parking during events.

Gallagher also said the council could vote to approve the new ordinance, discuss it further or vote to table the matter until a later date.

Sherry Weinzierl, council president, then told those in attendance that the ordinance vote would be removed from the council meeting agenda.

“It will go back to the ordinance committee for further discussion,” Weinzierl said.

For the next hour, several business owners and residents decried the ordinance as presented, pointing to various sections they disagreed with.

Doug Sprankle, owner of Sprankle's Neighborhood Market in the borough, said the ordinance, if approved on Tuesday night, would have negatively affected the Oktoberfest planned for his store in September.

Sprankle said he has acted in good faith with the council since opening his store a few years ago, but was not told during his many meetings with council members that an events ordinance was even in the works.

“When I came here, I could have asked for a five-year tax abatement,” Sprankle said. “I didn't, because you guys were struggling.”

He said the ordinance over-regulates the small businesses in Saxonburg and would be a detriment to the borough.

“My focus every day is 'how do we get more people to participate in this community?'” Sprankle said.

He said his Oktoberfest is being held on private property and will be well controlled.

Miranda Virone, a Main Street business owner, said she sees the value in the council's attempt to see that events are conducted safely.

But Virone said business owners and residents should be invited to sit on the ordinance committee so council members can have a first-hand look at how the ordinance would affect them.

Virone volunteered to sit on the committee, and offered her experience in policy writing.

She asked for, but did not receive, a motion from the council to allow residents and business owners to be included in the ordinance committee's talks.

Zach Davis, who owns a business on Isabella Street, said his business would be negatively impacted if it were to follow all the requirements in the ordinance when holding an event.

He said the requirement to get the voluminous number of signatures from neighbors would necessitate the hiring of a new employee to gather the signatures.

He said car clubs set up at his business, and he wondered if he would have to pay the fees in the ordinance each time that occurred.

“I feel these gray areas definitely need to be opened up,” Davis said.

Robin Setnar, who has owned a business in the borough for 25 years, said the ordinance is vague.

He said the definition of a special event is not clearly defined, and wondered if the car washes he allows the Knoch football program to conduct in his parking lot would count.

He said the ordinance does not give details on the number of people that constitutes a special event.

“Is it five people? Is it 50?” Setnar said.

He also questioned the requirement of organizations that hold an event to have at least a $3 million insurance policy.

Meghan Pohl, who owns a bakery in the borough and coordinates the borough's monthly Mingle on Main events in the summer, said she has never had anything but support from the council, borough manager, and police chief.

She agreed there have been issues at Mingle on Main that would have been solved by an events ordinance.

“But there are definitely some things in the ordinance that need clarification,” Pohl said. “I have faith it will be rewritten to benefit us all.”

She agreed with Virone's idea that business owners and residents should be included in the ordinance committee.

Chuck Lewis of the Saxonburg Volunteer Fire Company worried that although the fire company is exempt from the ordinance, it could be applied to some events on the fire hall grounds.

Lewis said he objects to government regulation of events held on private property.

He also is concerned with the requirement that the borough be notified of an upcoming event at least 90 days in advance, which would be impossible for many events.

Lewis said the borough should not dictate the amount of insurance required at events held by businesses and organizations in the borough.

Saxonburg resident Brian Antoszyk said the council was correct to table the ordinance.

Perhaps the most passionate comment came from Saxonburg attorney Michael Lazaroff, who called the proposed ordinance “heavy handed and unnecessary.”

Lazaroff took issue with the ordinance's requirements to get a list of signatures from all neighbors to hold a block party, which he said would allow one resident to torpedo a party although the remainder are in favor of it.

“That is not democracy,” Lazaroff said.