Birmingham — While the owner of a home that hosted what neighbors have described as a raucous pool party admits the event got out of hand, he disagrees with the citations he received for the incident and plans to appeal them.
The home in the 300 block of Westchester Way in Birmingham hosted a pool party Saturday, during which attendees blocked traffic and danced provocatively outside the house. Police were called to disperse the crowd and issued citations for disturbing the peace and holding an unlawful gathering two days later, according to the homeowner.
“That’s my one disappointment, is after all the public discourse and raising of arms, that then there’s an issue with what happened — there’s a ticket on a Monday for a Saturday issue where they were told things were fine,” he said.
The homeowner spoke to The Detroit News on Thursday on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation. He said information about him and his children has been posted online since the pool party.
“First thing, I don’t want to sound like I’m making excuses. I know what happened. I saw the videos,” he said. “I’ve been seeing on the news of traffic congestion, people dancing on top of the vehicle. That shouldn’t have happened … should have been handled a lot better. I plan to go door to door tomorrow just to apologize to my neighbors for the disruption that it caused.”
City officials said the homeowner rented the pool in his backyard out to a third party, which then rented it out for a weekend gathering. City officials said in a statement that this practice violates Birmingham’s zoning regulations for single-family residential properties. The homeowner said his home is listed on the rental app Swimply, but that Saturday’s party was not done through the app.
He said police did have communication with the partygoers during the day and that attendees “were told that things were OK, and so that’s why the party continued until the time that it was supposed to end.”
The homeowner claimed the party was contained in the backyard until its scheduled end around 8:30 p.m. He said the incident in question “was a very short period of time,” but acknowledged the situation should have been handled better.
Birmingham police have acknowledged that officers should have shut down the party sooner, and said the department is reviewing its procedures to avoid similar incidents in the future. The city also later issued a statement, noting: “The city confirms that with this emerging type of residential rental activity, renting a private residential pool to a third party violates zoning regulations governing single-family residential properties.”
“The behavior and activities associated with the event were inconsistent with the peaceful character and expectations of Birmingham’s residential neighborhoods,” it further read. “The city takes such violations seriously and will continue to enforce its ordinances to help protect the health, safety, welfare and quality of life of residents.”
The homeowner said he usually hires valet service to prevent congestion, but said the party was moved at the last minute from the day before. He said he was not anticipating as many people as did show up, but claimed it was under the city’s cap, contrary to reports that more than 100 people were on the street at once. He also said he watched the video of the partygoers leaving his home from his Ring camera as he was not present for the party.
“People are leaving the party, walking down the sidewalk down to their cars. From the way it’s being described, you would think that you had just a bunch of people running up and down the street throwing glass bottles through people’s windows and things like that,” he said. “Are you used to seeing that many people on the block like that? No. Was it intended to be that way? No. But there was nothing illegal about that, and I hate how people are being described.”
The homeowner said he was under the impression that police had successfully responded to the crowd at the end of the party. He said he was surprised when a citation showed up at his front door on Monday. The communication and timing of the citation are two of the reasons why he plans to appeal it.
“If the cops would have said at 6 p.m., ‘It’s loud over there — here’s a warning,’ the party would have shut down at that point, because we don’t want to risk a ticket or anything like that,” he said.
The homeowner also said reports have circulated online claiming that his position as an alternative hearing officer for Birmingham influenced the officers’ handling of the situation. Hearing officers in the city are responsible for hearing disputes from city residents over fee collections.
BPD Chief Scott Grewe said the homeowner’s title was revealed after police responded to the pool party. Birmingham Mayor Clinton Baller also said in a text message to The News that “His position had NO bearing on police response.”
This isn’t the first time the homeowner has hosted a pool party at his home. He said he usually tells his neighbors beforehand and invites them. He also said he has a rapport with Birmingham’s police because of past times they’ve been called to his parties.
“Unfortunately, I am Black, I’m in Birmingham, and I throw parties, so I get the police called on me almost every time I have people over here,” he said. “It comes with the territory, and each time the police come over here, they come respectful, they check out the scene, and they see that there’s nothing wrong going over here.”
On that note, the homeowner said he doesn’t appreciate comments on social media about Saturday’s partygoers, who were Black. He said he’s seen people on social media call them “animals.”
Asked if he’ll keep throwing pool parties in the future, the homeowner said he will — just not as large, crowded and raucous as the one on Saturday.
“I live here. I pay taxes. I have a right to have gatherings here just like anyone else,” he said.
mbryan@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Birmingham pool party homeowner to appeal citations, vows to party on
Reporting by Max Bryan, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Max Bryan, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
