Petition circulating to cancel Pigeon Forge Rod Runs
The Pigeon Forge Police Department
The petition stated the event used to be fun for families but now causes stress about, “violent crimes, perversion or harassment.”
PIGEON FORGE, Tenn. (WVLT) – Nearly 5,000 individuals have signed a petition that seeks to end Rod Runs in Sevier County.
The petition comes after a shooting incident in Pigeon Forge Friday.
The Pigeon Forge Police Department said groups of individuals were hanging out in the convenience store parking lot after the annual Spring Rod Run event when they became agitated with one another and a fight broke out. In the middle of the fight, shots were fired.
Officials said the department is seeking the public’s assistance in locating a suspect after several videos have surfaced on the internet showing the incident.
“Thousands of people flood into our town, trash it, harass us, cause car wrecks, and so much more destruction,” the petition stated.
The petition stated the event used to be fun for families but now causes stress about, “violent crimes, perversion or harassment.”
As of Wednesday morning, the petition had 4,729 of the 5,000 goal.
PIGEON FORGE, Tenn. — Tens of thousands of visitors are descending on Pigeon Forge for the Rod Run classic car show celebration, but city officials are wary of trouble in the rearview mirror.
At the event last April, a fight led to a shooting. Pigeon Forge Police issued ten times the normal number of citations on Rod Run weekend, records show. Officers gave out nearly 400 tickets, compared to 34 the weekend before.
PIGEON FORGE, Tenn. (WVLT) – It’s an event that’s grown so popular, city leaders in Pigeon Forge met Thursday with elected officials to update them on plans for this year’s car show.
A change coming in laws later this year will change parts of the event as vendors won’t be able to advertise cars that are for sale on The Parkway.
You can see cars parked on the Parkway with ‘for sale,’ or a simple price.
A new agreement about the public right of way will make this illegal for shows years to come.
“Going forward the new sublease calls for no commercial activity in the state right of way, so you wouldn’t be able to sell a vehicle in the state right of way going forward,” said Eric Brackins, Assistant City Manager.
Pigeon Forge leases the right of way from the state for additional parking at businesses and then subleases the spots to businesses to maintain. The agreement just made with the state of Tennessee limits even more the commercial activity that can take place on these spaces.
“That’s always been in there, that no advertising is allowed in the state right of way, so it just clarifies it in the new sub lease,” said Brackins.
