Costa Mesa Residents Again in Court to Ask Noise Limit on Pacific Amphitheatre

Costa Mesa neighbors of the Pacific Amphitheatre, faced with 40 outdoor concerts this summer, argued again Wednesday for a court order to limit the noise that they claim has disrupted their lives since 1983.

The noise from the concerts violates a county ordinance, amounts to a nuisance and has invaded the privacy of their homes and caused stress and loss of sleep, the neighbors claim.

Lawyers for Ned West Inc., the firm that leases the amphitheatre from the State of California, say their client has not violated noise limits.

The daylong hearing was before Orange County Superior Court Judge Gary L. Taylor, who took the case under submission.

A sound expert hired by the residents concluded that 70% of the concerts violated noise standards 95% of the time between 1983 and 1986, according to homeowners’ attorney Richard L. Spix.

Measurement Difficult

As lawyers for the residents and Ned West clashed, a deputy state attorney general acknowledged that state noise experts have been unable to accurately measure concert noise.

The state filed a separate lawsuit against Ned West last year, claiming that it had violated its lease, including provisions limiting noise. But experts have not yet figured out how to separate background noise from concert music, said Deputy Atty. Gen. Dennis W. Dawson, representing the state.

Background or ambient noise--from traffic, aircraft, and other sources--is “a very big problem,” Dawson said.

“It’s always there. Our experts are having a big problem with how you filter out the ambient noise. Our experts certainly have not come up with the answer. The technology is still being developed.”

Under questioning by Taylor, Dawson said, “Our legal position is that they have violated the ordinance, but we don’t have the proof.”

Dawson also said what’s loud to people who don’t like the concert music may not be loud to those who do.

Likes and Dislikes

“You run the risk of enjoining concerts based on the personal dislikes of the people who might be complaining,” Dawson said. “What’s unpleasant to me I may hear subjectively at a higher level. What’s pleasing I can put up with. One neighbor may tap his foot; the other may complain.”

Ned West lawyer Neil Papiano said it would be “an absolute impossibility” to limit noise and expect the concerts to continue.

“What the case boils down to is that some people on some occasions object to the sound,” Papiano said. “Don’t penalize the amphitheater for sounds that emanate from other sources.”

The lawsuit, filed by a group called the Concerned Citizens of Costa Mesa, was thrown out of court in 1984 but reinstated in successive appellate and state Supreme Court decisions.

The homeowners claimed that the size of the amphitheater, and the noise and traffic it generated, increased substantially after the initial environmental impact report was prepared. The high court ruled that a delay in filing the suit was justified because the size of the project had been changed without notice.

In court papers, Spix stated that 24,000 people live within one mile of the outdoor stadium.