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Residents tell Vista council Farmer’s Cup at Bridal Terrace Park produced smoke, profanity and safety concerns
Summary
Multiple residents told the Vista City Council that a cannabis-focused event called the Farmer’s Cup, held March 15 at Bridal Terrace Park, produced pervasive smoke, repeated profanities and a sense of unsafety for children and families living nearby.
Several Vista residents used the council’s oral-communications period to describe problems they said followed the Farmer’s Cup, a cannabis-focused event held March 15 at Bridal Terrace Park.
Crystal Reinbold said she and other parents were “surprised by the adult content in the music” and by repeated profanity playing from the event, and that smoke from cannabis use drifted into nearby homes. “It was very disappointing, very disruptive, not family oriented,” Reinbold said.
Dominique Guzman, a teacher who lives beside the park, told the council she did not receive mailed notice of the event, and that a neighbor who did receive a letter said the Farmer’s Cup had been approved in September. Guzman said her 13-year-old told her he “didn’t feel safe even going through the park” during the event and that at times the smell of marijuana was strong enough to enter her home with doors and windows closed.
Other callers and speakers raised public-health concerns and asked the city to consider stronger smoke- and vape-free policies in public places. Becky Rapp, calling in by Zoom, cited a study in JAMA Neurology and urged “clear evidence-based education” about cannabis harms. Terry Ann Skelly, a public-health educator, described research showing secondhand and thirdhand smoke can cause respiratory and cardiovascular harm and urged the city to consider local policies to protect residents’ health.
Madison Rapp and Judy Strang also urged the council to consider policies limiting smoke at public events; Strang said her son, who works with young children, told her “at least 10 percent of the population have a very strong allergic reaction to marijuana smell.”
Speakers asked the council to review permitting and notification practices for outdoor cannabis events and to consider whether existing park permitting, public-health outreach and buffer or smoke-free rules are adequate for events near residential neighborhoods.
No city action on the Farmer’s Cup was taken during the public-comments segment; speakers requested that staff and elected officials review the permitting and event-notification processes and potential smoke-free policies for public parks.
The comments were part of the meeting’s oral communications period; the council did not vote on changes to event permitting or the municipal code during the portion of the meeting covered in the transcript.
Ending: Members of the public urged the council to review permitting, notification and public-health protections after the event. Council staff did not announce immediate code changes during the meeting; speakers asked the city to return with options for limiting smoke exposure at city-sponsored or permitted outdoor events.
