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ACLU joins opponents of Arlington ordinance on ****emblies
Thursday, March 16, 2006
By Rod Smith
Special to the Gazette

BANGOR -- The Arlington Township Board of Trustees has relaxed language in a proposed ordinance governing public and private gatherings, but even the less stringent version has failed to quiet critics, including members of a pagan church.

At a meeting Wednesday packed mostly with vocal critics and a few advocates of the proposed ordinance, the board announced that it would delay making a final decision on the ordinance until April.

A representative of the American Civil Liberties Union told the board that he believed the ordinance would be unconstitutional.
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Jim Rodbard, of Kalamazoo, who said he was working with the Bangor-based Caer na Donia y Llew, a local pagan church, told the board that even the more relaxed version of the controversial ordinance distributed at the meeting would not ``p**** constitutional muster on the First Amendment.''

Rodbard said it would place a burden on the exercise of religion.

``It's not narrowly tailored to advance a state interest,'' he said.

Planning consultant Kenneth Dettloff detailed the latest draft of the proposed ordinance.

``The first draft was way too strict,'' he said. ``It prevented or may have impacted people with private parties such as pig roasts, outdoor church functions. So we made another attempt.''

Under the new proposed language, a site-plan permit would be required for gatherings of more than 30 hours with more than 150 people. Bonds would no longer be required, and the minimum site size was reduced from 10 acres to five.

The old language would have required a permit when there were 50 or more people for at least 14 hours.