TicketNetwork cited for wetlands violations in 2008

By Max Bakke
Journal Inquirer
Published: Thursday, December 24, 2009 12:25 PM EST

VERNON — TicketNetwork, the ticket brokering service that aims to build a concert venue on South Frontage Road, was twice cited for wetlands violations in as many years, one of which was on the property targeted for the venue.

Town records show that Ticket Network Forest LLC, the company seeking approval from the Planning and Zoning Commission to host 20 concerts between May and October 2010, was issued a cease and desist order from the town in October 2008 for working in the area of 60 South Frontage Road without a permit.

Acting on a complaint, town wetlands agent Craig Perry wrote in documents that the company was doing excavation work on the land. He wrote that he witnessed “significant activity” in a wetlands area without a permit.

Terrace Drive Realty LLC, which owns TicketNetwork’s Bolton Road headquarters and whose chief executive officer, Don Vaccaro, manages TicketNetwork, also was cited in April 2008 for “clear cutting, removal, or depositing of material,” and having “a ‘back-hoe’ type machine partially buried and stuck” within a wetlands area at its Bolton Road headquarters, Perry wrote.

Town records also reveal that building permits for storage containers and portable classrooms at TicketNetwork’s headquarters either have expired or don’t exist.

When contacted this week, Perry said TicketNetwork remedied the April 2008 order within months and has nearly corrected the October 2008 violation. He said he expects the “cease and desist” order to be rescinded at the next Inland Wetlands Commission.

Some residents have expressed concerns, both privately and publicly, that the proposed concert series isn’t the right fit for the rural stretch immediately off Interstate 84 at exit 66.

TicketNetwork is seeking special permits related to the size of the structure, and for overflow parking and alcohol. Residents say an influx of people on weekend nights is rife for rowdy behavior, loud music, and safety concerns for motorists and pedestrians.

Nevertheless, Vaccaro said this week that the prior issues concerning his business are in no way indicative of how the concert venue project will go forward.

“As far as any wetlands issues go, we’ve gone above and beyond. We’ve done more things than the inland wetlands folks have wanted done,” he said. “We have absolute unanimous approval form the inland wetlands people on this project.”

And if there are concerns about the concert venue, it’s news to him, he said, adding that reaction to the project has been overwhelmingly positive.

The wetlands issues have been remedied, he said, contending that he never was obligated to fix the problem that resulted in the October 2008 complaint, because it stemmed from a drainage dispute with an unhappy neighbor.

“We didn’t need to fix it, we could’ve fought it,” he said.

He said the town never required permits on the portable classrooms, which are vacant, and he expects the pending application for a permit for the storage bins to be approved soon.

The current proposal calls for the concert venue asks for permission to build a summer stage theater on 9 acres of about 30 acres of forest off South Frontage Road.

All facilities, except a building for utilities, will be taken down after the season ends in October, Vaccaro said, and there is work planned that will make the area safer and pedestrian friendly.

“It’s not that big of a project at all in terms of changes to the landscape or the environment,” Vaccaro said. “It is probably the best use for development of this land that is possible.”

Secondary ticket markets such as TicketNetwork reap large profits by creating an online market exchange for the company and ticket holders to resell their tickets to sporting and entertainment events.

A representative from the company said last week that having its own venue where TicketNetwork can sell access to its own events opens up a growing market for the enterprise that’s estimated to gross over $400 million in sales this year, according to a New York Times profile on Vaccaro in August.

But TicketNetwork and other ticket-brokering businesses have been under heightened scrutiny lately from state attorneys general in Arkansas and New Jersey who have sued TicketNetwork alleging the company sold tickets before they went on sale for Miley Cyrus and Bruce Springsteen concerts, respectively.

In 1996, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal sued Vaccaro, who was operating as Metro Entertainment, for price gouging in the resale of University of Connecticut basketball tickets and other events.

The suit was settled that year, and Vaccaro paid $20,000, agreeing to abandon ticket scalping in the state, a Blumenthal spokesman said Tuesday.