After spending nearly half a million dollars in legal fees fighting Burl's Creek, Oro-Medonte Township has dropped a pair of charges.
The township was seeking legal action after the WayHome Music and Arts Festival and Boots and Hearts Festival allegedly broke zoning and municipal licencing bylaws in 2016.
The decision to drop the charges against Burl’s Creek was made in court on Monday morning.
“It's not in the public interest to continue to prosecute in a matter that's been legalized; not to spend public funds on that anymore and that's why the matter was withdrawn,” says lawyer David Reiter.
The Ontario Municipal Board ruled earlier this year that WayHome and Boots and Hearts could offer on- site camping and parking along with concession stands despite the land being zoned as agricultural and rural.
Burl's Creek will be allowed to offer the same services next year under a temporary bylaw. However, it will have to make an application for a permanent bylaw for 2019.
The company was fined $200,000 in 2015 for similar offences.
