Coachella Fest Traffic Angers Neighbors

The first year of the 3-day pass at Coachella Fest came with the good and the bad. Visitors enjoyed the music, but neighbors said the parking situation was out of control.

“It did come to our attention about midway through the festival that we would not have enough parking facilities permitted or available for the amount of attendees that were coming to the festival,” said Lupe Ramos Watson, an Indio City Council Member.

Watson and the rest of her family opened their lot up across the street from the festival to sell parking. They played by the city’s rules by filing for a permit 45 days prior to the festival. However, not everyone else did.

“There were additional challenges this year,” she said.

According to Indio Police, code enforcers were low on staff, which allowed neighbors without a permit to get away with selling parking.

“They were basically faced with a challenge in that they saw all parking lots that were permitted and available were completely full, and traffic was still backed-up to Banning,” said Watson. “So, what’s the solution? The solution was we needed to find some more parking at the last minute.”

The city said 4 homes are currently under investigation for illegally charging for parking and it’s possible that they will be cited.

“The code will be enforced in any public event that’s permitted by the city,” said Benjamin Guitron, a Spokesperson for the Indio Police Department.

Several cars were also spotted parking in ‘no parking’ areas. Some were cited, but others were not.

“Given the manpower that we have, I believe the city did an excellent job,” said Watson.

The Indio Police Department said they will review their festival procedures. However, it is unclear as to whether or not more code enforcers will be present at the Stagecoach Country Music Festival this weekend.