Summer Concert Venue Plans Canned

It’s the day the music died in Vernon. On Thursday night, planning and zoning commissioners voted 5-2 to silence all sounds that might have come from a proposed concert venue on Frontage Road. The the project does not  meet zoning requirements, they said.

People who live near the proposed site said the news is thrilling.

“I’m thrilled. We’re thrilled. It was the right thing to do. Right thing for residents, right thing for town,” Karen Wassell, of Vernon, said.

Several commissioners called the TicketNetwork Summer Concert Theater a neighborhood nuisance and argued it is a threat to public health and safety. 

“Everytime you come to a tough vote, people think you vote because of what the crowd says. I listened to the people and the crowd, but I read the regulations. They didn’t meet the requirement of regulations,” Chet Morgan, a commissioner, said.

Don Vaccaro, CEO of TicketNetwork, said the vote was disappointing and is now look at expanding his business in a different community. 

“It's going to be hard to expand our corporate presence in the town, which may mean relocating some of our expansion to other towns.  We welcome solicitations now to do that,” Vaccaro said.

Vaccaro is considering appealing the board’s decision in court, but for now there will be no summer concerts in Vernon.
 

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