The town of Vernon planning board denied Woodstock 50’s appeal to hold the festival at Vernon Downs after a heated town meeting on Tuesday.
Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente and Sheriff Robert Maciol both released statements prior to the appeal meeting condemning the possibility of Woodstock 50 being able to be held in August, calling the organizers “incompetent” and that festival’s security plans raised several concerns for public safety.
Picente says that the “incompetence” of Woodstock 50 organizers is the sole reason that the festival should not take place at this time. However, he says that if they wanted to talk about an August 2020 or 2021 event date then officials would be ready to help them plan the event.
“Currently with less than 30 days to go, their incompetence and misrepresentations are still front and center,” Picente said. “They have consistently failed to provide traffic plans that scratch the surface of what would be necessary. They have yet to provide a parking plan that even begins to come close to tenable for the residents of Vernon.”
He goes on to say that the organizers have “no ability” to pull the event together in time.
Maciol says that law enforcement has not seen proof that enough outside security has been hired, no proof that any K-9s have been retained to search for explosives, and no evidence that the festival can guarantee a system for communication between security teams or an emergency evacuation plan.
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