BORING, Ore. — On Wednesday afternoon, Clackamas County officials posted a dangerous building closure notice on the front gates of the Mt. Hood Center in Boring. The bright red tags warned people to stay out.
The venue, built as an equestrian events site in the 1970s, now markets itself primarily as a wedding and event space. Aaron Shelley is director of operations at the Mt. Hood Center and said he couldn't believe the notice.
"We were saddened, hurt, betrayed," Shelley said.
Shelley said the dangerous building notice is the latest chapter in what he described as a "smear campaign" and abuse of power by certain Clackamas County officials that has played out over the last two years.
"They've held up permits, made false allegations against our facility, denied us due process of code enforcement," Shelley said.
Clackamas County officials argued that they had offered to help the business' owner, Kaluga, LLC, comply with codes on multiple occasions but to no avail. They also pointed to the building's maximum occupancy of 300 people. Clackamas County attorney Jeffrey Munns told KGW that the Mt. Hood Center has a conditional use permit which allows it to hold 10 horse shows per year. He said the building has a maximum occupancy of 300 for all meetings and events.
Shelley admitted the business often knowingly exceeds that occupancy limit, given the sheer size of their event center and its sprinkler system.
"We've put in countless resources to make sure the building is safe," Shelley said.
Izak Hamilton, a spokesperson with Clackamas County Fire District, said what the business doesn't have is the kind of fire alarm that would notify the fire department directly during an emergency. He said concern over safety at the site reached a new level on March 16. On that day, the Mt. Hood Center hosted a concert, which Hamilton estimated was attended by as many as 7,500 people. Videos taken by attendees showed moments of chaos as people crowded the entrance. And later, Munns said things turned violent.
"The sheriff's office responded; there had been a stabbing at the event," Munns said. "Due to the high volume of parked vehicles, it was difficult to get emergency responders to the facility."
Hamilton said fire officials were worried about future events and public safety at the Mt. Hood Center, which led to the dangerous building notice. The county also filed a chronic nuisance lawsuit against the Mt. Hood Center this week.
"Because of the history of this place, we can only imagine things are going to get worse and worse, so it was really time to do something," Hamilton said.
Shelley said what happened at the concert was an isolated incident and upset those at Mt. Hood Center as well.
"One of the problems we faced in this last event is we were assured by the promoter that only 1,500 tickets were sold and only 1,500 people would be in attendance," Shelley said. "Turns out, there were far more than that that were allowed to come in."
But even 1,500 people would have far exceeded the venue's 300 person maximum occupancy. KGW asked Shelley how he could justify that many attendees. He responded by criticizing the existing occupancy limit.
"Only 300 people according to the fire marshal, and in his application of a particular part of code that doesn't apply to our building," said Shelley, who admitted that that was just his opinion. "And that's the opinion also of the life safety engineer that we hired to do the analysis of this building."
But ultimately, county officials said those opinions don't override the 300 maximum occupancy imposed by the fire marshal, which Shelley insisted was misguided.
"The agency that has enforcement capability is stating 300, but they're also a participant in the smear campaign that I mentioned earlier as well," Shelley said.
A county spokesperson told KGW the dangerous building posting under the county's dangerous building ordinance, closes the property unless the owners request a hearing. The next event on the Mt. Hood Center schedule was the "High Noon in Boring 420 Event" on April 20, featuring cannabis and hemp vendors. Shelley said they had already sold around 500 tickets for the event. He said if they decide to cancel it, or any other planned events, Mt. Hood Center would issue full refunds.
"We certainly wouldn't want anybody to be wronged," said Shelley.
Clackamas County officials said they don't want anybody to be hurt. Whether or not closing the Mt. Hood Center was the right answer, or just part of a "smear campaign," may now play out in court.