Fireworks ignite ire among neighbors

Grand Del Mar says the displays are rare

Fireworks are again going off at the Grand Del Mar, sparking concern among the Del Mar Mesa Community Planning Board.

The board has sent a letter to the resort on the practice of fireworks shows and owner Tom Voss will come to discuss the issue at the next meeting on Sept. 10.

“The frequency of this is very, very sparse,” Voss said of the firework, noting there have been about three displays in three years.

The last fireworks display was on Friday, June 19, and lasted about three to four minutes, Voss said. The display had a permit and as an extra precaution, the resort had a fire department engine standing by. Voss said they notified local homeowner’s associations and the planning board chair Gary Levitt prior to the fireworks display.

Some people said they were excited for a fireworks show and Voss said he didn’t hear any major complaints, save Levitt’s letter of concern on behalf of the planning board.

Jan Hudson, a 22-year Del Mar Mesa resident, said when the planning board approved the resort, they were promised it would be carefully integrated into the open space and “walk softly” because the resort edges the Los Penasquitos Canyon Preserve.

The Del Mar Mesa Community Plan calls for dark night skies. There are not any streetlights on the neighborhood roads, but the resort’s tree-lined drive is lit up at night, Hudson said. And fireworks don’t promote dark night skies, she said.

In their rural neighborhood, Hudson said, a lot of families have dogs and horses and when the fireworks go off so close to the houses the animals are often disturbed by the noise.

“They get away with anything they want,” Hudson said of Grand Del Mar at July’s planning board meeting. “If we don’t do something, fireworks are going to be in any package sold by the resort. They will happen whenever someone has money to pay for it.”

Voss said that the resort does not sell a fireworks package or actively pursue events with fireworks.

“We are not trying to sell them to every client, “Voss said. “We are very conscious of our environment around us. It is very seldom when this happens and when it does, we are responsible.”