El Dorado County Bed And Breakfast May Lose Permit Over Neighbor Complaints

COLOMA (CBS13) - A Coloma neighborhood is at odds because of noise complaints, and now a local bed and breakfast Villa Florentina is on the brink of losing its events permit.

"I really like the guy, but the noise does get a little irritating," said Larry Cottingham, who lives across the street from the B&B.

Tucked away on a quiet street on a hill, sits the four-room Villa Florentina.

"We have about 580 olive trees," said owner Adam Anderson. "We do make our own olive oil."

But Anderson told CBS13 their bread and butter is hosting weddings. With space for 189 visitors, their permit requires that speakers stay on the patio and events end by 9:30 p.m.

"There have been some violations on our part. I admit that and I feel sorry about that," Anderson said.

Neighbors took notes on certain events that ended minutes after the cutoff time and sent their concerns straight to El Dorado County's planning commission.

Villa Florentina's permit with the county limits them to just 20 events a year between April and October. But on those 20 nights, some neighbors told CBS13 they're fed up with the noise coming from the venue.

"Every weekend," Cottingham said. "I don't like to see the guy lose his license but at the same time I think that he really needs to get control of that noise and the traffic."

He told CBS13 the noise has only gotten worse since Anderson bought the venue. But just a few doors down, Walt Finn had a different perspective.

"Leave him alone!" he said. "Occasionally if they have a function, there will be quite a few cars that come down the road to go there, but that lasts for a little while and it's over!"

From bartenders to florists, Anderson said keeping his doors open affects more than just his livelihood.

"There's a big chain of people involved in this, so if we lost the permits, it would be devastating," he said.

El Dorado County will hold a hearing to review the venue's permit on Thursday at 8:30 a.m. They'll move towards either revoking the permit or giving Anderson the chance to fix his violations.