KILMER’S NEIGHBOURS PROTEST B&B PLANS
VAL KILMER’s neighbours in New Mexico have moved to block plans to turn h is home into a bed and breakfast resort - insisting the actor must apolog ise for a series of negative comments he allegedly made about his adopted state.
The star has applied for planning permission to transform his expansive Pecos River Ranch near Santa Fe into a guesthouse, but local residents h ave lodged an official complaint with authorities. The group of unhappy r esidents claim they won’t withdraw their objections until the Top Gun sta r says sorry for a series of remarks he is said to have made in a 2003 in terview with Rolling Stone magazine.
Kilmer, who claims to have been misquoted, is alleged to have called Ne w Mexico "the homicide capital of the Southwest" and claimed that "80 per cent of the people in my county are drunk".
He is also accused of berating war veterans in an 2005 interview with E squire, although the actor has furiously denied he made the statement and has "nothing but praise and respect for veterans".
At a meeting of local authorities last month (May10) to decide on Kilme r’s permit application, the group demanded an apology from the star in re turn for the withdrawal of the complaint. San Miguel County Commission po stponed a hearing on Kilmer’s application until 23 June (10) and official s have written to Kilmer, urging him to attend the meeting in order to an swer questions.
Commission chairperson, David Salazar, tells the Wall Street Journal, " It’s a situation that’s pretty volatile. The opportunity is there for him to come and set the record straight." And Jose Garcia, who runs a ranch next to Kilmer’s property, adds, "Tha t’s all he has to do, come and apologise. We’re not intimidated by him."
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