Councillor questions approval process following 100 complaints about Cambridge event

More than 100 noise complaints were made about a recent late night event at Riverside Park in Cambridge, leading one councillor to question why it was approved in the first place.

Organizers of the Indian dance festival, held on Sept. 7, got approval for 5,000 people.

Some neighbours described it as very loud and disruptive.

Sharon Detzler lives five blocks away from Riverside Park and said she could heard it inside her home.

“It was loud, really loud,” she told CTV News. “Just like a rumble. It would be on and off. But it was enough to make you go: ‘Okay, that's enough.’”

Councillor Corey Kimpson said she received over a hundred complaint emails about the event.

She said the party was approved but not through the city’s typical process, since the Cambridge noise bylaw is currently under review.

“For some reason, somebody decided that since the noise bylaw was under review that they weren't going to bring noise exemptions to council,” she explained. “I'm not sure who that was or why that decision was made, but because it happened that way, it didn't have the opportunity to come to us.”

Kimpson also heard about a similar Garba event held the previous weekend where 1,000 people gathered in the park and played music until midnight, even though the park closes at 11 p.m.

“Council and the public weren't aware that this event was going on. And we as council didn't have an opportunity to speak with staff and perhaps mitigate the way the event was being run,” she added.

Kimpson said the city tried to work with the organizers of the Sept. 1 event and even changed the rules so the music could play until 10 p.m., with guests asked to leave by 11 p.m.

“But all the last minute changes were a big challenge for us to market and let everyone know, which was within just three or four days prior to the event, which was location change and timing cut down,” Jatin Mayani, from Panghat Entertainment Ltd., said in an email to CTV News. “[The] crowd was upset with the organizers.”

Kimpson admitted the organizers didn’t do anything wrong.

“The event organizers, from what I understand, worked with the city and they're certainly not at fault for anything that has occurred,” she said.

The event did cause some disruption as the rest of the park was not accessible due to the influx of people.

The city said it’s reviewing the approval process and plans to hire a new events manager.

“Part of that role and task will be to review the events, particularly the feedback that we've received over the last couple of weekends, and develop a plan as to how we can better balance some of the public feedback, as well as communication,” said Hardy Bromberg, Cambridge’s deputy manager.

The city also noted that the community is growing and, with that growth, comes greater demand on public places.