Future of Guitar Festival in jeopardy, township says

Jeff Green | Apr 18, 2018

South Frontenac Council and the Canadian Guitar Festival could be headed towards a showdown, and the outcome could be something that no one wants, the end of the festival.

Township Chief Administrative Officer Wayne Orr said on Tuesday that he has written to Del Vezeau, the owner of the Loughborough Holiday Park and the convener of the festival, urging him to seek legal advice about the implications of the ruling by Judge J. Hurley.

The township sought a declaration from the court that Vezeau’s use of the property for events “such as music concerts and weddings” is in contravention of the zoning that applies to the property, which is primarily a campground. The township also sought an injunction “restraining [Vezeau] from using or permitting the use of the property” for any purpose not in compliance with that zoning.

Judge Hurley granted the application, in part. He made the declaration that the use of the property for the events in question contravenes the bylaw, but did not grant the injunction that was requested by the township, indicating that he did not want to “tie the townships hands” because if the injunction were granted the guitar festival “could no longer take place”.

By not granting the injunction, he is in effect allowing the township to defer from enforcing the zoning bylaw.

As he said further, this leaves the township the option of granting or not granting an exemption to the township’s noise bylaw to Vezeau for the guitar festival each year.

The township had attempted to remedy the zoning matter with Vezeau previous to launching the court case, by urging him to seek a change in the zoning of his property, but he did not do that. Last year, the township did not grant the requested noise bylaw exemption for the guitar festival, partly because Vezeau was already advertising and selling tickets to the festival before requesting the exemption. This year, based on Judge Hurley’s decision not to impose an injunction, Vezeau is again advertising the festival and selling tickets.

By encouraging Vezeau to seek clarification of the legal ramifications of Judge Hurley’s ruling, the township is seeking to avoid legal issues in the future.

“If he contravenes the ruling, he could be be facing contempt of court charges,” said Orr.

Vezeau is also facing a $10,000 bill to the township because Judge Hurley awarded court costs to the township for the hearing that took place.

“One of the concerns we have on council, is that based on what is being said on the Guitar Festival website, Vezeau may not be aware of the true implications of the Judge’s decision,” said Councillor Ross Sutherland, of Loughborough District.

One the site, it says: “We are very pleased to announce that the court has upheld the worth of the Canadian Guitar Festival to the municipality, the artists and fans of the best fingerstyle guitar music in the world! An attempt by a few South Frontenac Municipality Council members to seek an injunction that would have effectively ended our world renowned Festival and Competition has been denied by Judge Hurley in Ontario Superior Court.”

“He seems to have failed to realise that the judgement was essentially in the township’s favour, and that is why court costs were awarded to the township,” said Sutherland. “He needs to petition Council for an exemption to the noise bylaw.”

Indeed, immediately after denying the injunction, Judge Hurey wrote: This does not mean that the injunction would not be granted should 366078 Ontario [Vezeaus corporation] contravene the bylaw or fail to abide by the declaration I have made. If that happens, South Frontenac will be at liberty to bring another application or seek a contempt order.”

(The News attempted to contact Del Vezeau on Tuesday for comment, without success.)