DANA POINT : Residents Still Singing the Blues

The recent three-day Orange County Blues Festival may have been a success for the promoters, but it was a disaster for the neighborhood, a group of residents charged Monday.

The group of neighbors, who plan to voice their complaints to the city Planning Commission tonight at City Hall, said the event nearly drove them from their homes with bright lights, loud music and unruly festival-goers climbing over fences to urinate on their lawns.

Festival organizers said 30,000 people attended the event, held Sept. 24-26 at Heritage Park. Last week, the organizers vowed to bring the festival back to Dana Point because it had gone off without problems. They could not be reached Monday for comment.

“From my viewpoint, it was not a successful event,” said Lorraine Fortney, who lives near Heritage Park. “I’m sure it went well for the promoters, but my heaven, the noise and stench and smell. The toilets were cleaned in the morning, and the smell filled the air.

“I have no objection to the event, it’s OK, it’s fun, but it does not belong in the middle of these houses.”

Delores St. John said the group will present a petition to the commissioners, who granted the promoters their permit.

“The petition is being passed around the community to see to it that this never happens in our neighborhood again,” St. John said.

“This was done for the benefit of the commercial and business interests in the community, but you have to protect the residents as well. If you don’t, you won’t have any business.”

The Orange County Sheriff’s Department reported no arrests throughout the three days, but neighbors said there were problems with drunks stumbling through their property, drivers damaging retaining walls and the proprietors of the food booths dumping grease and trash in the streets.