Anna Rumer

The Desert Sun

Indio City Council voted unanimously Wednesday evening to allow as many as 62,000 extra people to attend future years of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and Stagecoach: California's Country Music Festival -- a move that was heavily applauded by those in attendance.

Early in March, Goldenvoice, which promotes each festival, submitted a proposal to Indio officials asking them to raise the attendance cap for Coachella and Stagecoach from 99,000 and 75,000 people, respectively, to 125,000 and 85,000 people.

That request was approved by council in a 3-0 vote.

Mayor Pro Tem Elaine Holmes recused herself from the vote because she owns a rental property that is close to the festival grounds. Councilwoman Lupe Ramos-Watson also recused herself, saying that while she didn’t have a conflict of interest for the vote, she was not going to take part.

The increased capacity would be gradual so that the city would have time to acclimate to the crowds, Mayor Glenn Miller said.

"I think overall it's not going to have too much affect," Miller told The Desert Sun prior to the meeting. "We've been working on this for a little while with the (Environmental Impact Report) ... so I don't think you're going to see much of an impact."

In order to make room for the extra festival attendees, Goldenvoice will increase the venue size by about 50 acres along Monroe Street, Avenue 50, Avenue 52 and Polo Road. Different areas would be designed to hold campers, taxis and ride-sharing services and act as open spaces for the concert attendees.

“We know that with the demand we have, we could do four Coachellas,” Goldenvoice Vice President Skip Paige said. “We could do five Coachellas with the amount of people that want to come to that show.”

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With about 62,000 extra people buying tickets to the concerts, the city of Indio should bring in about $1 million extra in ticket taxes. This year, the city is expected to collect $3.18 million in these fees alone — about 5 percent of its general fund. An extra million in the city's pockets would allow officials to give back more to the community, Miller said.

Last year, Coachella fest took in $84.26 million and Stagecoach made $21.8 million, making them first and third on Forbes Magazine's list of highest-grossing music festivals of the year. These expansions should further solidify Coachella's position at the top of that national list.

In addition, the Coachella Valley will benefit economically from having more people in town for the concerts.

Even without the expanded capacity, the current three festival weekends are expected to generate $403 million for businesses across the Coachella Valley this year, according to projections done by Development Management Group and announced in March by the Coachella Valley Economic Partnership and Greater Palm Springs Convention and Visitors Bureau.

"I think it's going to be good for the residents overall with the tax dollars that are going to be coming in and the jobs it's going to create in order to be able to provide more services and put more money back into the community," Miller said.

The second change in festival procedures moves up concert sound checks from 10 a.m. to 9 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday in order to give artists and sound technicians more time to prepare for the 11 a.m. concert start time.

"Because the gates open to the public at 11 a.m., only one hour is available between 10 and 11 a.m. for sound checks, which does not provide enough time," the proposal stated.

Miller said he hopes the benefits of better mixed sound offset the earlier start times.

Prior to Wednesday’s meeting, the cities of La Quinta and Coachella submitted a letter voicing their concerns about the earlier noise and heavy traffic they believe expanded festivals will bring. Indio and Goldenvoice officials said they addressed these concerns with the cities before and that they had nothing substantial to add before the vote.

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Indio residents also had a lot to say about the expansion, but the vast majority of the comments were positive.

Rebecca Shields, who lives on Avenue 50 across from the venue, said that while the concerts caused problems for her in the beginning, she now sees them as economic boons for the area.

“Goldenvoice and all of them have met with us repeatedly and worked very hard to resolve all the issues,” she said. “The way I view it is that it’s for the economic good of the community. I know a lot of people who depend on the extra work that the festival provides.”

Some people, such as nearby ranch owner Kevin Brown, spoke about the traffic concerns that they’ve had over the years, but praised the combined efforts of Goldenvoice and the city to alleviate the problems.

Paige said he recognizes the hardships residents and nearby residents are having and wants to work with them in order to make the concerts the best they can be.

“You have one of the most successful, the most critically-acclaimed music festivals in the world here,” Paige said. “Not everybody loves this show, I know that … I can’t say don’t worry about it, it’s no big deal, because it’s affecting people. But we’re doing all that we can to make sure they’re taken care of.”

Miller encouraged residents who might have concerns to call the citizen complaint line set up by the city in order to give locals a voice at (760) 391-4112.

Anna Rumer covers the eastern Coachella Valley for The Desert Sun. She can be reached at (760) 285-5490, anna.rumer@desertsun.com or on Twitter @AnnaRumer.