CLARKESVILLE
CLARKESVILLE – After more than 45 minutes of discussion, the Habersham County Commission decided not to set a precedent regarding First Amendment issues that arose at Monday night’s meeting.
Jerry Loonubon, representing Wat Lao Buddha Sattha Dhamma Inc. of 241 Buchanan Road, Alto, had requested a conditional use to establish a special outdoor event use in a low intensity district. The Wat Lao Buddha Sattha Dhamma Inc. temple is located on the 17.65-acre parcel, situated a short distance from Highway 365.
The group was seeking to hold its annual Songkran Festival, which is the Lao, Thai, and Khmer New Year festivities, celebrated each year in April or May.
“They have come and asked in this application for permission to celebrate their native holiday,” said Habersham County Building and Planning Director Tom Braswell.
“It incorporates religious and civil aspects of their culture,” a letter from Tom Hritz of Alto to county officials explains. “Homage is paid to the temple monks and the elderly of the community.”
“The outdoor activities include music, both current and classical,” Hritz’s letter states. “It is amplified to allow for being audible to those at the temple itself and to those on-site at their pavilion down the hill from the temple. No music or amplified sound is used outdoors after 8 p.m.”
“The festivities being outdoors allows the attendees to douse each other with water and talc or foam,” Hritz’s letter states. “This is tradition from across the ages to invite good luck in the coming year to invoke a drought-free growing season, to leave no one thirsting for water during the new year, and for plentiful water for crops. This same celebration is performed at all of the Lao and Thai temples in Georgia and the rest of the USA, which entails over 100-plus temples.”
Lorne Cragg, an attorney representing neighboring homeowner Keith Compton, opposed the county permitting the festival, presenting the county commission with a petition signed by 10 neighbors who oppose the conditional use.
Cragg argued there are at least two venues in the county that are designed to accommodate large celebrations: Pitts Park in Clarkesville, for which there is no rental fee, he said; and the Habersham County Fairgrounds, for which the charge is $560 for two days.
“There are alternatives to this site,” Cragg said. “We strongly request that that be taken into consideration.”
“We are in no way denigrating Laotian culture, the festival, or anything of that nature,” Cragg said. “We have no problem with that. The problem is it’s just too hard on the neighbors. There are other places where it can be done for nothing, or very cheaply.”
But Noy Nations, representing Wat Lao Buddha Sattha Dhamma, said the celebration is tied directly to the temple.
“This is our tradition; we have to have it at the temple,” Nations said. “This is how we celebrate our tradition. We have our tradition – we celebrate at the temple.”
A tearful Nations said, “I grew up here, but I still want to keep the tradition going. We welcome anybody to celebrate with us. All we ask is that you allow us to continue celebrating our tradition.”
The Habersham County Planning Commission had voted 6-0 recently to recommend approval of the request, with eight conditions. Those conditions included:
- All parking will be contained to a designated area of the property.
- Debris related to the event will be contained on the property and promptly disposed of in an approved landfill or through a waste disposal service.
- All public address systems, amplication devices and other loud noises related to the event shall not begin before 9 a.m. and shall cease at 10 p.m.
- Traffic control shall be handled by a law enforcement officer or other agency certified in traffic control.
- Admission and parking charges are prohibited, and fundraising is limited to donation only.
- If approved, the use is limited to Wat Lao Buddha Sattha Dhamma only. The property shall not be rented, leased, or offered as an event venue to any agency, firm, or other religious organization.
- Notification shall be given to neighboring properties in advance of the event.
- Decibel level shall be below established threshold as to whether a nuisance exists.
“I was asking our counsel about the interaction of our action here and the First Amendment, and there is some interaction, so we need to be careful,” said Commission Chairman Lee Mulkey.
Alto resident Jimmy Tench asked how the event at the Buddhist temple differs from large events held at nearby B.C. Grant Baptist Church, located just across Highway 365. He referred to the church’s annual archery shoot where “we have in excess sometimes of 1,000 people.”
“What’s this going to do to that?” Tench asked. “Also, we have what they call a ‘Jam for the Lamb’ in October, where we have a group come in and play music loud. I haven’t heard anybody complain about that.”
“I’d like to know if this is going to affect B.C. Grant Church in any way,” Tench said.
“I’ll ask our attorney, but I can’t imagine that it would,” Mulkey said.
Habersham County’s new interim county attorney, Donnie Hunt, cautioned the commission.
“I would say that you are going to affect it to some extent if you have too much limitation on this,” Hunt said. “What you’re saying is that we have a religious organization and another religious organization.”
“I was concerned about this in the beginning because I didn’t know that the temple was there,” Hunt said. “Once I heard that the temple was on site, that changes the nature of this question because it’s not at a park, it is at the temple. This celebration is in conjunction with the temple, and it seems to me that there would be no other site in Habersham County where they could conduct this.
“The result is if you overly restrict this, you’re going to have to treat all other venues that are religious in nature similarly,” Hunt said. “Otherwise, you’ll run afoul of the First Amendment.
“I think there are some restrictions that you can have on this,” Hunt said. “If it is truly a nuisance, then you can have reasonable restrictions on religious activity in that sense. You can’t prevent it, you can’t stop it, you can’t outlaw it, but you can cause it to function so that it’s not a nuisance.
“The concern I have and the question the gentleman [Tench] just raised is what’s the difference between a jam session or an archery shoot that goes on until 10 o’clock at night?” Hunt said. “If you put restrictions on this, then I would think you have to have similar restrictions on that.”
A conditional use is like a variance request, Hunt said.
“Once you vary, it becomes the law at that point,” Hunt said. “So, once you restrict, it becomes the law.”
“The gentleman’s question about how does this affect these other events, I think it does affect them,” Hunt said.
Hunt said he doesn’t see a difference legally between the requested event at the Buddhist temple and the archery tournament at B.C. Grant Baptist Church.
“The only concern I’m raising is what restrictions you place here, you’re basically going to be placing everywhere,” Hunt said.
“It’s clear to me that we’re in uncharted waters here,” Mulkey said. “It’s also clear from the presentation that this is just not a social event – this goes deeper than that, and certainly includes a religious observation.”
After discussion among the commission about whether to table the request or how best to handle it, Hunt advised it would be better for Wat Lao Buddha Sattha Dhamma Inc. to withdraw its conditional use request – which Nations did.
Because the application was withdrawn, no action was required by the commission.
As with any other religious organization, the group will be able to use its temple property in compliance with existing laws, such as the noise ordinance, with no additional restrictions, commissioners said.
“And, of course, all other churches that have events that are in the same category as this have to comply with that as well,” Mulkey said.
