By WMBD TV
NORMAL – A potential nuisance gathering ordinance was tabled at Monday night’s Normal Town Council Meeting after a lengthy public comment portion, and now town leaders are looking to modify the ordinance.
The ordinance would target gatherings of three or more people playing loud music, drinking or doing drugs, and anything else that can be defined as a nuisance. Fines would range from $1,000 to $5,000.
It came about due to a September shooting incident that took the life of one person and left another in serious condition. The shooting occurred near a pop-up party that spread from a park to a gas station near Illinois State University’s campus.
College students and Normal residents alike spoke against the ordinance, with concerns ranging from the impact it would have on the town’s live music scene to how it could unfairly target disenfranchised people.
Mayor Chris Koos said Tuesday that the council does not intend to impinge on people’s First Amendment rights and that the ordinance will need to go back to the drawing board for better clarity.
“We have no interest in being in that world, but we do have an issue with parties that have a lot of illegal activity in them and cause property damage,” he said.
He added that the town supports the live music scene, and celebrates the arts and culture of the community.
Town council member Chemberly Harris expressed concerns about the ordinance during Monday’s meeting, saying that she enjoys playing music and having a good time with friends on her front lawn. Under the proposed ordinance, she said she may be fined for doing so.
“People of color tend to bond mostly over two things: food and music. That’s a cultural thing. So, you’re basically stripping a cultural understanding. That’s a language that we speak,” she said.
Harris and other council members asked questions of Jason Querciagrossa, the town’s corporation counsel, or chief legal officer.
Fellow council member Scott Preston believes the ordinance is too open for interpretation.
“I don’t believe that what we have before us is the best way to address what we’re trying to without also bringing in a whole lot of unintended consequences that I do not want to go down the road of,” he said.
Audience members snapped their fingers in agreement with the respective points that both Harris and Preston made.
Tyler Bever is the President of the Assembly for the Student Government Association at Illinois State and echoed the concerns of his fellow students.
“We want to see something done and I just hope they go down a different path because right now, it’s a little too vague and very subjective,” he said.
Koos concluded Monday’s meeting by saying that community stakeholders need to be involved in the process of developing the ordinance.
“With student government, with ACLU, with League of Women Voters, any other groups so we can have a common understanding of what we’re trying to accomplish and a common understanding of what we’re not trying to do,” he said.
Koos said the council will discuss the ordinance at their Dec. 2 meeting.
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