Last show in Scarborough

Scarborough officials are willing to work with the host of a ‘house concert’ series, but the homeowner said it is unlikely

SCARBOROUGH — After being shut down by code enforcement officials last week, a Scarborough resident was allowed to host one previously scheduled performance in his home, Aug. 30, but now says the future of his “house concert” series remains in doubt.

That doubt, says Paul Williams, rests on the town’s definition of “commercial activity.”

“I’ve been told I can have small shows just for family and friends, but I don’t know right now if even that will happen,” said Williams on Tuesday. “I mean, really, that’s all that was happening anyway.”

Since February, Williams has hosted local musicians at his Broadturn Road home who played for small groups of 15-30 people, had dinner and snacks – often including Williams’ competition-worthy chili – and shared the stories behind their songs. Generally, a hat would be passed, or a donation asked, for the artists. 

“They say it’s a commercial activity but I never made one red cent,” said Williams. “In fact, every single show actually cost me money. It was all about helping the artists.”

One such musician was Pat Foley of Sanford, a singer/songwriter of 25 years experience who played twice at Williams' home.

“It was a beautiful thing,” Foley  said. “I usually play in bars to a bunch of drunks who can’t put their cell phones down or take their eyes off the television. It was a thrill to play in such a place, where people were genuinely interested in my music.”

Foley said when the hat was passed after a couple of hours, he made $325 in cash and sold five of his CDs, all reported to the IRS.

That, says Scarborough Code Enforcement Officer Tom Reinsborough, meets the definition of commercial activity.

“If there’s money exchanging hands, he’s created a venue for concert activity,” said Reinsborough, explaining the cease-and-desist letter served to Williams last week. It’s “still to be determined” said Reinsborough, whether Williams will be fined for shows held before Aug. 30. Those fines could run from $100 to $2,500 per event and the town is reviewing Internet postings and YouTube footage to try and access how many shows where held.

For his part, Williams is reluctant to say.

“I don’t mean to be a bad guy, I really don’t,” he said, “but I’m not real anxious to help the town fine me what could be thousands of dollars for having private parties, if you know what I mean.”

The problem, the town says, is that Williams parties appeared to be something more than private events. He created a Facebook page touting his home as “The Brick House,” and listed it on the website concertsinyourhome.com, which links musicians across the nation with willing hosts.

Before long, Williams’ success got away from him, leading to agents for larger acts sending out press releases that listed a cover charge and made the Brick House sound like a genuine concert hall. One site, ReverbNation, cited an 80-seat capacity.

Williams says he had no part in either listing.

“What I was doing wasn’t promoting concerts, or staging shows,” he said. “My deal was just to have friends and family over to listen to some great music, hang out, enjoy some good food and have some fun.

“Why is that a commercial activity and not Mary Kay or Pampered Chef, or things like that, where people get rich and drive around in pink Cadillacs?” asked Williams.

The answer, said Reinsborough, is that those are vendor programs controlled by the state. 

“You can have a private party,” he said. “You could have one every night if you wanted to. But if it's not controlled by the state, it falls under local zoning rules – rules developed by the people of this community. We just try to enforce those rules. It’s the people who created them.

“It’s a fine line, but if someone’s getting money, that’s a commercial activity,” said Reinsborough. If no money is to change hands, the town says, Williams would be free to host the concerts.

“Under zoning, one of the permitted used in our commercial zones is ‘places of assembly,’” said Town Planner Dan Bacon. “That includes things like banquet halls, or a convention center or conference rooms, or a concert hall.”

William’s home is in the rural farming zone, not a commercial district, so assembly is not allowed. That does not infringe on the Constitutional right of people to assemble, said Bacon. It simply means a commercial venue is not allowed that’s likely to draw a crowd.

But Williams declines to label any party he threw as a crowd. The last show, featuring internationally-acclaimed blues/rock guitarist Popa Chubby drew 49 people. Most shows drew closer to 20, and everyone who came was at least a friend of a friend.

“Sure, there might have been someone I didn’t know, like, if my mother brought one of the people she plays cards with,” said Williams. “But you got to know everyone by the end of the night and everyone left as friends.”

“This was a great opportunity for both the artists and local people,” said Foley. “It was just a really cool thing. It’s a travesty the town shut it down.”

“We usually don’t come off looking too good in stories like this,” admitted Reinsborough. “People who don’t want to follow the rules generally are not too happy to see us and we come off in the media looking like the bad guy.”

Just last week, for an unrelated effort, Scarborough’s code enforcement officer got its first thank-you letter from a resident in almost two years, said Reinsborough. 

“But really,” he said, “we are concerned about the public’s safety. What if there had been a fire there, or an accident – if someone got hurt, or worse, died? Then people would ask why we didn’t do anything.”

Reinsborough said his office has offered to walk Williams through the process of complying with the zoning regulations, whether he wants to seek approval as is, or petition to change local zoning laws. Bacon adds that Williams also can apply for contract zoning – essentially special rules that apply to a single property.

“That would have to go before the Town Council and the Planning Board,” said Bacon. “It would have to fit the comprehensive plan and have a public benefit.”

For many of Williams supporters, the Brick House fit that bill.

“It was an absolutely beautiful and remarkable thing,” said Foley, echoing posts on social media over the past week. “I wish more places like it existed.”

Williams says he has no intention of applying to Scarborough to launch a genuine concert hall, in his home or elsewhere.

“That wouldn’t be as intimate,” he said. “It just wouldn’t be the same thing. My deal was giving local artists some exposure to people who truly appreciate their work, and letting larger acts take a stop on their tour where they could decompress.”

Many of those larger acts stayed at Williams’ home for two to three nights, he says, just kicking back, doing laundry and enjoying the local sights. Hosting those moments for working artists he’s befriended over the years, as much as anything else, was what the Brick House meant to Williams, he said.

“Unfortunately, he just brought too much attention to himself,” said Reinsborough, adding that his office is making no attempt to find one other host concert host in Scarborough, cited by Fran Snyder, founder of the concertsinyourhome.com

The town, said Reinsborough, is busy enough acting on the code violations it knows about without resorting to detective work to find violators.

Still, Reinsborough said, he is bound to act on any violation he knows about.

That’s why, when he went to the Williams home last week to deliver the cease-and-desist letter, he also issued a 60-day notice to remove a tractor trailer car on the property, used by Williams to store equipment for his construction work.

“The things is,” said Williams, “that’s been there since 1999.”