Thursday, October 24, 2013

Barn parties are dead


Barn parties are effectively dead, killed by a decision this week from the Ontario Fire Safety Commission.

The commission ruled in favour of Wilmot Township and against John Jordan of Shingletown, about 15 km. west of Kitchener.

It’s decision sets a new and impossibly-tough standard for most who want to hold a barn party, such as a wedding.

The commission ruled that the barn owner must obtain a permit from the municipality to hold the party and that the municipality must inspect and approve the barn.

The barn will need alarms, sprinklers, fireproofing around structural supports, emergency lights, exit signs and easy property access for fire-department vehicles. In Jordan’s case, it means a widening of the driveway.

And, of course, the barn owner will require a building permit to carry out the necessary renovations.

Wilmot Township’s chief building inspector, Doug Robertson, says many municipalities did not want the issue to go before the Ontario Fire Safety Commission.

But Wilmot Township would not back down because Robertson said that would leave it liable in the case of a tragedy at a barn party.

It’s all about liability, said some of the people involved in the commission’s public hearing in Kitchener earlier this year.

“I am dumbfounded,” said Jordan, who was sure he would win, especially after the Ontario Fire Marshal’s Office said it has no issue with one-off parties.

“We can’t have parties at this point,” he said of his barn where his son liked to practice music with friends and they sometimes held parties for family members and friends.

Wilmot Township earlier forced the closure of a grieving circle that met in a barn near St. Agatha and a book club that met in a barn near New Hamburg.