Solution to Amphitheater Noise Appears at Hand

As a Superior Court judge described on Tuesday how he intends to protect the peace and quiet of the neighborhood around Costa Mesa’s Pacific Amphitheatre, a lawyer for the amphitheater said it appeared that no concerts would have to be canceled.

Superior Court Judge Gary L. Taylor said he will put the finishing touches on an order and sign it today. A draft of the order was presented Tuesday to lawyers for area residents and Ned West Inc., which stages concerts in the open-air amphitheater.

Ned West lawyer Neil Papiano, who declined comment on a possible appeal, said he thought the regular summer concert season could proceed normally but added:

“I think there’s a problem with the order because all it says is that we must continue doing what we’re doing now, which is obey the law.”

Taylor’s draft calls for monitoring of noise levels at the edge of the amphitheater and in surrounding neighborhoods. A special master, a representative of the Orange County Health Care Agency whose experts have monitored sound near the site in the past, would be appointed to keep track of the sound in an experiment covering the first four concerts, beginning June 6.

Under Taylor’s draft, the homeowners would be required to pay the cost, expected to total about $8,000 through the first four concerts.

The City of Costa Mesa, which already has paid $19,000 in legal expenses and costs for the homeowners in their lawsuit, will consider paying the tab, according to City Atty. Thomas C. Wood.

On May 8, Taylor ruled that noise from the concerts interfered with the neighboring residents’ right to “the comfortable enjoyment of life and property,” and he asked a panel of six noise experts to recommend ways of monitoring sound levels.

The experts suggested measuring sound for four concerts to determine how much noise is generated by concerts and how much noise comes from normal background activities, such as ground and air transportation.