A website is not a sign — thus, websites, Facebook events and social media invitations cannot be used as evidence of a land use violation.

That was the argument Anne Walker Marchal’s attorney William P. Ring made before the Yavapai County Board of Supervisors in Prescott on Dec. 19. The Board of Supervisors agreed and voted to reverse a $3,000 fine imposed on Marchal on Nov. 8.

Ring successfully argued there are no county regulations of Internet content pertaining to zoning, and disagreements over Web content cannot constitute a zoning violation.

Marchal conducts Red Moon Lodge gatherings on her five-acre Mago’s Ranch in the Village of Oak Creek. She advertises the gatherings for women only and members only. Mago’s Ranch is not affiliated with the Dahn Yoga group.

An anonymous complaint June 13 to the Yavapai County Development Services Department led to a visit June 16 by Jeanne Grossmeyer, a land use specialist from the department’s Cottonwood office, who cited Marchal for violating the county’s land use code.

Grossmeyer reportedly found Marchal in violation for using and advertising her property, zoned residential rural two-acre minimum, for commercial purposes. The commercial violation stemmed from listings on Marchal’s public website and through semipublic Facebook event invitations but not from any physical evidence otherwise.

Planning and Lane Use Manager Boyce Mcdonald told hearing officer John Edman at the Nov. 8 hearing Marchal was inviting the public to her property for ceremonies and events and was charging fees for those services.

For an event scheduled Sept. 11 but later canceled, Marchal’s Facebook invitation suggested visitors pay a $20 donation while locals were asked to pay $10. Girls 12 and younger were free. She told Edman at the Nov. 8 hearing the number of participants range from three to 12.

Mcdonald said his department attempted to work out a solution without success. He added Marchal needed to apply for a use permit to have a private club in a residential area.

At the hearing, Marchal said when the county informed her workshops were in violation of code, she moved them to a commercial property in West Sedona and changed her website accordingly. However, she argued her monthly Full Moon Ceremony and Shamanic Journey gatherings she held on the property were no different than a potluck, book club or bridge game.

Marchal stated at the hearing her use of the term “lodge” does not refer to a building, retreat center or hotel but in the sense of a fraternal organization.

Edman deferred to county staff, who attempted to define the limits of what Marchal could post online.

Macdonald told the hearing a person could “email someone and say we are going to have a party at my house — that is one thing — but when you go in the website, even though you put ‘for members only,’ you are still putting it out there for the whole world to see and there is no limit to who reads that or comes to your door and you turn them away, but you are advertising to the whole world on the website that you are having something that is not allowed in that zoning. You must have an administrative review with comment.”

Edman ordered Marchal to remove references to the events by Dec. 1 or face a $3,000 fine.

Before the Board of Supervisors in December, Ring argued Mcdonald’s statement would imply zoning officials would have to conduct administrative reviews of all Internet content — like Facebook invitations — to assure zoning compliance.

The Red Moon Lodge was not a structure, Ring reiterated, but an association of women and girls with common interests, and membership is defined by the group. Attempts to prohibit a gathering would violate the right to assemble, guaranteed by the First and 14th amendments of the U.S. Constitution and Article II of the Arizona Constitution, Ring argued.

Printouts from websites alone do not constitute physical evidence of a land use violation, Ring said. He told the supervisors the Nov. 8 hearing was full of confusion over what Marchal would and would not be allowed to state on the Internet. No member of the department’s staff clearly gave Edman an answer, and he failed to realize the department exceeded its jurisdiction by trying to regulate website content, Ring argued.

Ring also stated Marchal did not erect a “sign,” as defined by Yavapai County ordinances, “Any identification, description, illustration, symbol or device which is affixed directly or indirectly upon a building, vehicle, structure or land.” A website is not a physical object and can not be regulated by the department as a sign under statute, Ring stated.

Yavapai County District 3 Supervisor Chip Davis said it looked like Marchal had done several things to mitigate the initial violations brought against her. He also said he thought every citizen should have as little government interference as possible.

Davis moved to overturn Edman’s ruling. Yavapai County District 1 Supervisor Carol Springer seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.