(9/3) The Thurmont Town Council voted at their September 1 meeting to adopt regulations which will govern protests and any/all public assemblies/parades proposed to occur which would involve public streets and sidewalks.

Any person(s) proposing to hold a protest, rally, public gathering, or parade will now be required to file an application with the town. The application will then be reviewed by the chief administrative officer and police chief to determine approval or denial.

The proposal was initially introduced at the August 25 meeting. Police Chief Gregory Eyler said, during the introduction of the ordinance, "The primary reason for all of this is actually for our planning, not just for the police department but for the town itself, as far as allocating personnel and all the resources that we may need." He said regarding any existing regulations governing public gathering and/or parades, the municipality has nothing.

Eyler stated that the town is normally simply told "carte blanche" ... that there is going to be an event, but the municipality is not provided with any information regarding who will be responsible for the activity, who the contact person will be, who will be accountable, or roughly how many potential attendees the event may attract.

The new regulations establish an approval process by which the applicant must provide the town with all pertinent information regarding a proposed event. The police chief stated that the town attorneys had received the ordinance before it was presented to the commissioners.

Over and above filing definitive paperwork to obtain approval, the town retains the right to deny approval if such would be considered detrimental to the health, safety and/or welfare of the community, or if the town would have insufficient resources to provide for certain events.

Additionally, if the town received applications that would entail holding two separate events on the same day, town staff would have the discretion to either grant both or deny one... again, depending primarily on available town resources.

The approval process would only apply to events which could potentially impede the use of sidewalks and non-state roads. If state roadways are involved, the state requires State Highway Administration permits. Park usage would not be affected since events to be held in the municipal parks already require permits. Also unaffected would be events to be held on private property.

The approvals can be rescinded upon any observable violation which may occur during the event.