close
close
Trending Now

Whatsyourrescueplan

News That Hits Home

Menu
Search
Headline
Without Chevron Deference, What’s Next for Public Lands? -Sierra Nevada Ally
Without Chevron Deference, What’s Next for Public Lands? -Sierra Nevada Ally
CU Boulder failed to address discrimination and harassment
CU Boulder failed to address discrimination and harassment
After program cuts, SCSU looks to public safety to recruit students
After program cuts, SCSU looks to public safety to recruit students
India’s Bold Policy Move: Key Updates at 17.00
India’s Bold Policy Move: Key Updates at 17.00
The Bank of England keeps interest rates at 5% again
The Bank of England keeps interest rates at 5% again
€335,000 Leinster House cycle shelter delayed due to concerns over removal of parking spaces for politicians – The Irish Times
€335,000 Leinster House cycle shelter delayed due to concerns over removal of parking spaces for politicians – The Irish Times
How old are Chicago Public Schools buildings?
How old are Chicago Public Schools buildings?
The iPhone 16 arrives tomorrow and Sky is already offering it at half price
The iPhone 16 arrives tomorrow and Sky is already offering it at half price
Early voting in the general election starts in Lynchburg
Early voting in the general election starts in Lynchburg

Turn up the volume: Residents plan to sue Colorado Springs City Council over amphitheater noise | Arts and entertainment

Lipalmenu
Lacuadra

Turn up the volume: Residents plan to sue Colorado Springs City Council over amphitheater noise | Arts and entertainment

Homeowners and condo dwellers in the Colorado Springs area who say they’ve been inundated with unwanted noise from the new outdoor Ford Amphitheater plans to turn up the volume in the municipal council.

Several residents who have posted on social media or complained about amphitheater noise to the city via its GoCOS app say they will attend Tuesday’s regular City Council meeting to voice their displeasure in person during a portion of the session when the public is invited to comment on non-agenda items.

And some City Council members say they will listen as they begin to explore what steps, if any, the city can take to address their complaints.

“We have to do something,” said Councilwoman Nancy Henjum. “I am very concerned about the complaints we are getting.”

As of Thursday, the city had received nearly 650 complaints about excessive amphitheater noise, although some residents appear to have filed multiple complaints, city spokeswoman Vanessa Zink said. Also, because complaints can be made anonymously, it’s unknown if all complaints came from areas where noise can be heard, she said.

As a result, it is possible that the number of complaints received by the city may be fewer, although it is certainly more than 100, Zink said.

But in addition to complaints received by the city, several hundred more have been posted on social media sites such as Nextdoor. Some commenters on that platform have said they plan to protest noise from the amphitheater directly to the City Council.

In addition to comments from area residents upset about noise, Henjum said she expects council members to hear Tuesday from Jamie Fabos, Mayor Yemi Mobolade’s chief of staff who usually attends council meetings.

What Fabos might have to say is not known. Zink said Fabos and other Mobolade administration staff are preparing to answer council questions “to the best of their ability.”

The full council convenes 10 a.m. Tuesday at City Hall, 107 N. Nevada Ave., in downtown Colorado Springs.

Henjum and seven other council members voted 8-1 in January 2023 to approve the 8,000-seat Ford Amphitheater, which opened 9 Aug southwest of Voyager Parkway and North Gate Boulevard in the 200-acre Polaris Pointe mixed-use development.

The amphitheater, proposed and developed by Colorado Springs entertainment company VENU, was designed as a luxury facility that would host big-name artists. It would allow local residents to enjoy concerts in a scenic outdoor setting without driving to Red Rocks or Fiddler’s Green — longtime outdoor venues near Denver, VENU officials have said.

When the amphitheater was proposed, some nearby residents said they feared noise would fill their backyards and homes; The facility and the larger Polaris Pointe development are surrounded by several neighborhoods.

A trial brought by a local resident and a homeowners’ group that claimed the amphitheater would violate state noise pollution laws was dismissed in court, although an appeal is pending.

The new Ford Amphitheater in Colorado Springs hears cheers and jeers when it comes to noise

VENU, as the project’s developer, was required to implement noise mitigation measures, which included the installation of a noise wall that would act as a sound barrier on the eastern side of the seating.

Noise detection devices were also installed at two locations just outside the amphitheater — at Spectrum Loop and Voyager Parkway and near Bass Pro Drive and North Gate Boulevard — to measure sound levels. These devices collect data that is fed to amphitheater operators, who can adjust sound levels if the sound is too loud.

VENU officials received a noise nuisance permit that allows the amphitheater to exceed the city’s noise limits of 50 decibels in residential areas between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m.

Even so, VENU officials say noise levels measured inside the facility have not exceeded a city-imposed limit of 110 decibels once every five minutes. Noise measurements outside the facility, meanwhile, have been no different than the surrounding area’s ambient noise from cars, trucks and motorcycles, VENU officials say.

On the one hand, many area residents, business people and community leaders have applauded the amphitheater as an exciting new attraction for Colorado Springs and the Pikes Peak region.

But noise complaints that began during the first weekend of amphitheater performances headlining pop band OneRepublic shows no signs of slowing down.

City Council President Randy Helms previously told The Gazette he didn’t think the amphitheater noise was too intrusive, based on his informal survey of nearby neighborhoods while driving and walking during the venue’s first OneRepublic shows.

Still, Helms conceded last week that complaints may increase. An Aug. 18 amphitheater concert headlined by reggae and pop bands Iration and Pepper seemed louder than others so far, generating more complaints and concerns, he said.

“I know that I and other council members want to address this issue of the venue and the volume of the music,” Helms said.

Meet the man behind El Paso County’s new luxury amphitheater

At least Henjum has a seemingly simple solution: Turn down the volume.

“I think they could lower the volume inside the amphitheater,” she said Thursday. “I got an email this morning from someone who said, ‘I love the concerts, I’m proud it’s here. But it was so loud inside. Like, why does it have to be so loud?’

Henjum said she attended an invitational concert at the amphitheater three days before its official opening on August 9. Her reaction?

Your weekly local update on arts, entertainment and life in Colorado Springs! Delivered every Thursday to your inbox.

Success! Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter.

“It’s too loud for me inside the amphitheater,” she said.

In addition to lowering the volume, more noise monitoring devices should possibly be installed in areas extending 1 to 3 miles away from the amphitheater, Henjum said.

But could the city council change a development plan it approved in January 2023, which spelled out the amphitheater’s permissible noise limits and other conditions under which the facility would operate?

No, said Henjum based on what she had heard from the City Fiscal.

“I’m told we had one bite at that apple, and that bite is done,” she said.

“I really regret that I didn’t necessarily vote (to approve the amphitheater), but that I didn’t do a more thorough job of really looking at the development plan,” Henjum added. “I think we could have, should have put some stronger teeth in that development plan.”

Heading out to the new Ford Amphitheater in Colorado Springs? What you should know before you go

Helms has his own ideas about what can be done to address noise problems, but said he’s not yet ready to talk about the specifics.

“I want it to be good for everybody,” Helms said. “I think the amphitheater is a good place. But I listen to my constituents, too.”

It’s just not city officials making complaints.

El Paso County Commissioner Holly Williamswhose district includes the amphitheater site along with neighborhoods in northern Colorado Springs and northern El Paso County, said she has received at least 20 emailed complaints. One woman said her husband does not sleep at night because of noise from the amphitheater, while a family said its baby was woken up by concert noise.

Several complaints have come from the Sun Hills area outside the city limits north and northeast of the amphitheater, while others have come from Flying Horse to the east and inside the Springs, she said.

Since the noise originates in the city, there is little commissioners can do, although the county can send its code enforcement officers into neighborhoods to take noise readings and determine the extent of the problem, Williams said.

If there are solutions, they will take time, Williams said. She warned area residents not to expect relief for the rest of the amphitheater’s first concert season, which runs through at least mid-October, based on its upcoming concert schedule.

JW Roth, founder, chairman and CEO of amphitheater developer VENU, said he knows the city and county have received complaints, and he and his staff plan to attend Tuesday’s City Council meeting to hear what is being said.

In the meantime, he said he’s trying to gather more information about what kind of sound the amphitheater generates.

On Friday, and possibly Saturday, a third-party audiovisual company subcontracted to install the amphitheater’s sound system was scheduled to measure sound levels before, during and after concerts from 20 locations outside the venue, Roth said. Christian singer Lauren Daigle was scheduled to perform Friday; the rock band Primus was booked for Saturday evening.

Among those locations, noise would be measured outside eight homes whose residents had filed complaints with Williams, the county commissioner, Roth said.

Sunset Amphitheater goes global with new name, multi-year deal

Other locations include Fox Run Regional Park in unincorporated Black Forest about 5 miles to the northeast; the Progressive Insurance customer service center parking lot approximately 1 mile south; and outside a King Soopers grocery store east of Interstate 25 and Baptist Road almost nearly 5 miles north.

Roth said he will turn over the sound measurement data to the mayor’s office and let the Mobolade administration decide what to do with it.

The purpose of the exercise is to collect hard data that can be measured and investigated, rather than relying on social media comments, some of which Roth says are greatly exaggerated. He labeled a complaint about amphitheater noise rattling windows several miles north in Monument ridiculous.

If there is one change he will consider in the amphitheater’s operations, it might be ending Sunday concerts at 10 p.m., instead of the 10:30 p.m. that the city approved, Roth said. That change could not be implemented until next year because of commitments with existing shows, he said.

However, Roth said he plans no changes to Friday and Saturday concerts, which the city has allowed to run until 11:30 p.m.

Asked if he would be willing to lower city-approved decibel levels at the amphitheater, Roth said he could not commit to changes at this time.

Any changes to how the amphitheater operates would have to be done in collaboration with AEG Presents, the global concert promoter hired by VENU to book shows and operate the facility, Roth said.

Meanwhile, Roth said he can’t commit to changes until he has more scientific data on noise levels from the amphitheater.

“I try to get the facts and sometimes you can read something on a website, like Nextdoor, and you have to, like, in a lot of ways, take it with a grain of salt until you can prove it one way or the other, and that’s my jobs,” Roth said. “My job is to find out the facts and then present those facts. And if there are things I can do to mitigate the problems, that’s the first thing I’m going to do.”

Back To Top