The Issue

On August 12, the Kane County Planning Commission will hear a request to create new countywide regulations governing farmers markets, outdoor markets, and temporary community events.

This request did not come from the county. It did not come from the public. It came from a private business owners’ association in Duck Creek Village — not a sanctioned chamber of commerce, not a government body — asking the county to regulate events it does not control.

Who's Affected

The vendors are your neighbors: bakers, crafters, and family farms who already hold business licenses and already pay sales tax, earning a modest income a few Saturday hours at a time. New permits, fees, and facility mandates would price them out overnight. A vendor making $200 on a Saturday cannot absorb brick-and-mortar compliance costs — and that’s exactly the point of imposing them.

And this isn’t just about Duck Creek. Because the request is countywide, every market, craft fair, and community event in unincorporated areas of Kane County would inherit rules written to settle one village’s business dispute. Communities that never asked for this — with events that have never had a problem — get the burden anyway.

Even the local businesses this claims to protect would lose. The market runs a few hours on Saturday mornings and fills the village with foot traffic that spends money up and down the street all day. Kill the market, and you empty the sidewalk.

Why This Is Wrong

When residents asked why existing licensing and health rules couldn’t simply be enforced instead, the association’s own answer was that there’s nothing to enforce — confirming the goal is new regulatory authority that doesn’t exist today.

And this same association hosted its own large community events for years without ever requesting a single one of these standards. The rules only became urgent when the successful event was one they didn’t run.

That’s not closing a regulatory gap. That’s digging a moat.

What We’re Asking

We, the undersigned residents, property owners, and friends of Kane County, respectfully urge the Kane County Planning Commission and County Commission to:

 1. Decline to create new regulatory authority over farmers markets and temporary community events
 2. Direct any site-specific concerns — parking, sanitation, traffic — to existing enforcement channels and property owners, where they belong.

Small communities should be allowed to enjoy small community things.

Sign this petition — then show up. August 12, 6:00 PM, Kane County Commission Chambers, 76 N. Main Street, Kanab. Public comment is your right. Use it.