Malibu residents say wind-borne odors from a portable toilet at the singer’s compound are making them ill.
from The Los Angeles Times
by Bob Pool
How sweet is life when you live next to a celebrity in Malibu?
Outside Bob Dylan’s house, the answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind.
That’s what some of the singer-songwriter’s neighbors are charging in an increasingly odoriferous dispute over a portable toilet at his sprawling ocean view estate on Point Dume.
Residents contend that the nighttime sea breeze sends a noxious odor from a portable toilet on Dylan’s property wafting into their homes. The stench has made members of one family ill and forced them to abandon their bedrooms on warm nights, they say.
Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times - A chemical services truck leaves Bob Dylan’s property after emptying a portable toilet hidden behind a storage container in this picture.
For more than six months, Dylan, 67, has ignored their complaints and their pleas to remove the outhouse, the downwind neighbors say.
“It’s a scandal — ‘Mr. Civil Rights’ is killing our civil rights,” said David Emminger, whose home is directly behind the toilet — which is apparently intended for use by employees of the entertainer best known for his 1960s-era protest songs.
Emminger and his wife have installed five industrial-sized fans in their frontyard in an attempt to blow the odor back at Dylan. They say the fans are no match for the ocean breeze that sweeps across the singer’s land, however.
Dylan, who has lived in a compound next to Bluewater Road for more than two decades, did not respond to inquiries about the toilet. Neither did his New York-based attorney.
Malibu officials said they are investigating the complaint. As a result, they are unable to discuss the issue, they said.
But Dylan’s neighbors who contend their patience has run out have plenty to say about the odor.
“It started in September. I’d go into the frontyard and get nauseous,” said Cindy Emminger, 42. “I couldn’t figure out at first where the smell was coming from.”
Her 8-year-old son, David Jr., was sickened by the stench. Then she became ill too.
“We both have allergies and are sensitive to chemicals,” she said. “I finally noticed that they had moved the porta-potty directly in front of my front door.”
By some accounts, the city’s response has been sluggish.
In January, one inspector reported that a city code enforcement officer was turned away by Dylan’s security staff and told that he was trespassing. “He said they were going to sue the city,” the inspector said.
Guards who staff a security shack near the edge of Dylan’s compound around the clock are among those who utilize the toilet, neighbors say.
The guardhouse has been the source of controversy in the past. In 1989, when Dylan sought a permit to build it, Los Angeles County building and safety inspectors discovered it was not accessible to the handicapped.
According to county records, the singer bypassed accessibility requirements by promising, in writing, that he “would not hire any handicapped persons” to work in it.
Malibu City Manager Jim Thorsen denied Emminger’s charge that officials allow celebrities to “dictate terms” to the city.
“There’s no truth in that whatsoever. Everybody, in our opinion, is a high-profile person. We have to treat everybody by what the code says. It’s not a matter of clout or of money. We treat everybody exactly the same,” Thorsen said.
Although Malibu’s municipal laws apparently do not directly address the issue of the permanent use of a portable toilet, one code section states that temporary structures connected to authorized construction projects must be removed upon completion of the project.
Another prohibits objectionable odor “in excess of what is normally found in the neighborhood.”
“I drove by one time and couldn’t locate the porta-potty or smell anything. I called the rental company on her behalf to find out what chemicals they use and forwarded that information to her,” Thorsen said.
“It’s worse when it’s misty outside at night. We turn on the five fans, but it still gets inside our house. We’re not even using the upstairs now. We sleep downstairs,” she said.
bob.pool @latimes.com
I hope I didn’t inadvertently send my other reply – ignore it if I did! While I find this story amusing, I am really writing to you about another article entitled “Touring Bob Dylan’s New York”. I have tried, to no avail, to find out how to get to Terre Grilli’s private tour, but keep getting redirected to the commercial NYC tour. My daughter is a musician, and an AVID FAN of Bob Dylan. She lived on Jones Street while attending NYU, and her apartment is on the album cover of Freewheelin. She has attended several of his recent concerts, and will travel anywhere to see him. We are going back for a visit May 7-10, and I would love to present her with this tour as a gift. She has visited many of his old haunts, and knows probably as much as the tour director about his time spent there! I have also contacted Nigel Richardson, who also wrote an article about this, but have not heard back from him either. I’m not sure how to get to Ms. Grilli, but would certainly appreciate any advice you may have to offer. I have enjoyed perusing your site – very interesting and funny too!
Bob has horses. Have they ever thought it could be horse manure? We rode past the house (did not smell anything) and saw ALL THESE RIDICULOUS fans across the street!!! Come on, is it worth giving ALL THAT MONEY to the electric company???? Bob was living there WAAAAY longer than them. I am sure they knew he had horses when they moved there.