Events and equestrian facility Mt. Hood Center closed indefinitely by Clackamas County for alleged code violations

UPDATE: The Post attempted to contact Mt. Hood Center and no one was available to comment.

A new but likely not unexpected development in the storied history of Boring's Mt. Hood Center was announced today by Clackamas County.

The revived equestrian and event center, which allegedly has a long record of various county code violations — including hosting events that reportedly far exceeded the building's capacity — was issued a dangerous building closure notice. This was accompanied by notice of a public and chronic nuisance lawsuit by Clackamas County code enforcement officials.

For the time being, Mt. Hood Center is not legally permitted to host any events, including weddings, birthdays, the previously scheduled High Noon in Boring event that was set for this Saturday, April 20, or the Derby Party that was already in the works for Saturday, May 4.

Vendors who'd already applied and paid, and people who purchased event tickets, should contact the center regarding refunds.

Even before the center's current owner took over, the center faced several lawsuits, and that theme has continued since July 2018 when California businessman Dean Najdawi, doing business as Kaluga, LLC, purchased the property.

According to the statement released earlier today by the county:

"Since 2017, county code enforcement officers have repeatedly reviewed the building code process with the owners of the six-parcel, 18-acre facility, explained why land use authorization is needed before any construction can begin and explained how to voluntarily comply with county and state codes. However, the owner of the facility, Kaluga, LLC, has repeatedly rebuffed all help Clackamas County has offered to get the facility to comply with county and state codes, forcing the county to issue the closure notices. County officials told the owners to be compliant with the building code, they must first have a land use authorization for their uses of the property. Officials also noted there were unpermitted buildings and unpermitted construction on the site. Some permit submittals have been made for this work, but the submittals were not completed due to the lack of land use authorization."

Mt. Hood Center has been operating with a license for an equestrian facility with a maximum occupancy of 300 people. However, the space has reportedly been host for multiple events and also constructed buildings that were in violation of county codes. Uses the county found to allegedly violate building and land uses include:

Weddings, festivals, concerts and other eventsRodeos and roughstock eventsOutdoor arena/trail courseFood carts and marketsCamping and full hookup RV rentals

Some of these events reportedly exceeded capacity of the center by thousands of people.

"This past March, the facility hosted an event for which the building was not zoned. With several thousand people in attendance, a Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office incident report detailed that there were 'multiple highly intoxicated' people at the event," the county's statement detailed. "During that event, bracelets were used to identify patrons 21 years of age or older to signify they were of legal drinking age. However, many of those bracelets were scattered on the floor, available to be picked up by anyone, including minors. Alcohol beverage containers were also found throughout the venue, despite alcohol limited to being legally in the bar area. Bartenders were seen handing beers to people over a side fence, away from the serving counter. The Clackamas Fire’s Fire Marshal responded to the event, finding blocked exits and the event clearly exceeding the venue’s capacity."

As an example of why it is important to heed county building codes, Clackamas Fire Public Information Officer Izak Hamilton mentioned the Ghost Ship fire in Oakland, California, which took 36 lives in 2016. The Ghost Ship fire started in a warehouse that had been unlawfully converted into living spaces and then used to host concerts.

“That’s a constant reminder that if we do not follow through with enforcing these codes, which are birthed from historical events, lives can and will be lost,” Hamilton said in a press release. “It's only a matter of time before the negligence shown by this property manager will result in a potentially horrific event."

The center made the news not too long ago after videos from a rodeo (allegedly hosted without proper permits or land use approvals) showed a bull being repeatedly poked on the neck and rear end with a cattle prod. This led to much outcry on social media about the treatment of animals and also the behaviors tolerated at Mt. Hood Center events.

“We don’t take these actions lightly,” said Clackamas County Attorney Jeffrey Munns in the press release. “Issuing these notices is our last resort to any business, but we must to protect the public. We want everyone to be safe at any facility they visit in the county, and our code enforcement team does a great job of working with owners of facilities who are out of compliance. In this instance, unfortunately, the owners of the Mt. Hood Center refused to follow county codes and state laws despite our repeated efforts to help them.”

The county has not released a projected reopening date for Mt. Hood Center.

The Post attempted to contact Mt. Hood Center and no one was available to comment.