Many desert residents were up all night from loud music, but the noise was not coming from the Coachella Music and Arts Festival, the raucous came from private parties around the valley.
John Zimmer lives in unincorporated Vista Santa Rosa, about five miles from the Empire Polo Club, the venue for Coachella, but he said he does not have to go far to find an after party, there are a couple of them planned about 300 feet from his property.
Zimmer said, “The amount of traffic that drove by here is what we get in two years, it was truck after truck, van after van like the one coming.”
He said a party on Friday drew thousands of people to his neighborhood, and he said the dirt road that connects his property to the venue became a dust bowl.
“And all of this dust it’s only going to get worse as the day goes on,” Zimmer said.
He is concerned over the loose dust that is triggered as cars drive by his home, and not so much the loud music as some of his neighbors. The private party was permitted by the Vista Santa Rosa Community Council, and he said he was told that a water truck would be on stand-by to settle the dust all weekend-long, but he said that has not been the case.
Zimmer said, “I think the county should be more picky on who they give permits to, and what kind of problems is going to create for the communities that lives around the parties.”
He said the office of Fourth District Supervisor responded to his concerns, and they said they will tackle the events different moving forward. Zimmer said he does not mind the private events and the festivals, he said he enjoys the added property value, but he does want more accountability.
Zimmer said, “This isn’t suppose to happen, if you’re going to have an event, dust from vehicles is a no, no.”
He said he is not a “not in my backyard” kind of person, but he fears that once the dust settles and the after parties are over, it will only be him who cares for the surrounding property near his home.
Zimmer said, “Nobody maintains the road, the only who maintains it, it’s me.”
The Vista Santa Rosa Community Council will host their meeting on May 5, and Zimmer plans to attend.
