Sooooooo, you may want to still hold off on buying those tickets to see Snoop Dogg.
Coachella Valley Wind-Up, an upcoming Saxony Group event to be held at an old Sam’s Club building, has so far been met with a little skepticism by local residents. As it would turn out, it is for good reason: the event has not even been approved by the city of La Quinta yet.
Via The Desert Sun:
…the temporary use permit to hold the event has yet to be approved by the city which still hasn’t received plans for renovation either.
Saxony CEO Martin Dolemo has submitted permit applications for removal of some pillars and for electrical improvements, skylight and air conditioning/heating upgrades.
Dolemo has until Dec. 1 to submit a site plan, including documents addressing parking, traffic and noise control as well as building improvement plans. Until then, his application for a temporary use permit for the Wind-Up events won’t be processed, City Planning Manager Gabriel Perez said.
“We don’t know exactly what’s going to be proposed in the building,” he said.
And Perez was nice about it. Mayor Pro Tem Kristy Franklin told the newspaper, “I’m just a bit in unnerved that this person has already sold tickets to an event without having the venue even slightly ready.”
City officials are justifiably a bit concerned about a concert with 10,500 people in a building without enough bathrooms or emergency exists. Also no one is quite sure how the event’s planned VIP second floor balcony will happen – seeing as the building is currently just one story.
The city says that Saxony will also have to lay down a $25,000 deposit for cops, paramedics, etc.
And why are we hearing about all of this? As La Quinta Mayor Linda Evans told The Desert Sun, “We do not want to see that La Quinta is the one that’s canceled Coachella Valley Wind-Up because this venue is not prepared and up to the safety specifications that we require to protect our residents and our community.”
So go ahead and read into that what you will.
