Country Thunder is no friend of sea turtles, or following protocol

The city of St. Pete Beach has rejected a permit application from Country Thunder, a country music festival held at various locations in Florida, Arizona, Wisconsin and Canada.

In a letter to event organizers, including Tradewinds Resort and the event promotor, County Thunder, the city cites insufficient “information to determine that you have a complete application addressing all impacts needed to approve your City special event permit.”

The event was planned for early May in the beach portion of the Tradewinds property. But the city is now asking organizers to resubmit an application to instead host the event on property off the beach, in the resort’s parking lot.

The city’s decision was also based on the lack of approved permits from the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). But there are too many problems to count, including that the event threatens nesting sea turtles and shorebirds and hasn’t followed proper permitting protocols, including advertising and selling tickets for the event before permits have been approved.

Scheduled May 8-10 at the Tradewinds Resort property, and facilitated in part by the Tradewinds, the event is expected to draw some 10,000 people per day. That’s far more than other popular events on the beach, such as last year’s Bucs Beach Bash, which drew about 4,500 people, and the St. Pete Bike Fest, which draws anywhere from 5,000 to 8,000 attendees, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

The kicker is that the event is scheduled right smack-dab in the middle of sea turtle nesting season, which runs from March 1 through Oct. 31, and shorebird and seabird nesting season, which runs from mid-February until the end of August.

During that time, beach residents are asked to keep outdoor lights off or to use shield, red or amber LED bulbs. Artificial light can attract turtle hatchlings mistaking it for moonlight glistening on the water, sending the young turtles further inland and threatening their survival.

All three nights of the festival are currently scheduled to run until 10 p.m., making it hard to imagine there won’t be lights and sound threatening a protected species.

“We are seeing a massive corporation prioritize a weekend of ticket sales over the long-term survival of Florida’s endangered species,” said Lisa Reich, founder of the Coastal Wildlife Advocacy Group. “The Tradewinds has the resources to host events responsibly, yet they are choosing a timeline and a location that the FWC (Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission) itself has warned against.”

Reich said event organizers are “essentially asking for a corporate license to kill protected wildlife.” That’s in reference to Country Thunder seeking what’s known as an incidental take permit, which would shield event organizers from liability if a shorebird or seabird were killed.

Reich’s group has a number of concerns. The event will include significant industrial encroachment, including heavy machinery that will compact nesting sands, making it difficult for nesting mothers.

The event has also not met city procedures, which require a special event application, a DEP permit and a response to any issues flagged by FWC. As of April 7, neither the DEP nor the city had approved permits.

“St. Pete Beach is our home and a shared public resource, not a private stage for a multibillion-dollar corporation to monopolize,” resident advocate Kymberly Oakes said. “The Tradewinds should be a leader in coastal stewardship, not the entity leading the charge to undermine the very wildlife that makes our beaches world class.”

Over the weekend, a small group of protesters gathered peacefully in opposition to the event, waving flags at passers by declaring event organizers should “let them nest” and that the event should be moved to a more appropriate location.

The issue was debated at a City Commission meeting in late March, during which Commissioners made clear their concerns.

“Do you normally sell tickets in advance of securing a venue and that are nonrefundable?” asked City Commissioner Lisa Robinson, adding another inquiry about whether event organizers had an alternative location in mind in case permits were not approved.

“We don’t, at this time. We’re hopeful that we’ll get our permit,” Country Thunder General Manager Kim Blevins replied.

Blevins said organizers were aware the parking lot was an option for the event, but had no desire to utilize that as an option.

“We’re hopeful that we don’t have to do that, because that changes a whole range of things, how people enter the site, that sort of thing,” she said.

And organizers say they are taking steps to minimize environmental and wildlife impacts, including having turtle trackers on-site to check twice-daily on turtle activity and nests, according to Fox 13.

But the spokesperson who provided that information, Tradewinds Resort Manager Travis Johnson, also said future events would be scheduled outside nesting season — a tacit acknowledgement that the timing at the height of sea turtle nesting was ill-advised.

In her comments in late March, Blevins also said Country Thunder was considering alternative dates for future events that fell outside of both turtle and bird nesting seasons.

The event also presents problems for would-be concertgoers who have purchased tickets to an event that, just weeks before it’s set to take place, is still uncertain.

Blevins briefly addressed the issue at the March City Commission meeting, arguing that permits often take time to come through, pointing to lengthy processes in Arizona.

“Our show in Arizona, we don’t get our permit approved until probably two weeks before each show,” she said.

Asked whether Arizona also had wildlife concerns at its venue, Blevins said they don’t.

Blevins went on to explain why changing dates or venues — something critics have called for — isn’t viable.

“We actually have to secure our talent a year in advance,” she said, adding that making a change could be costly.