Judge Lifts Bar to Enforcing Pacific Amphitheatre Noise Limits

A state appellate judge dissolved all restraints on judicial action against Pacific Amphitheatre on Thursday, clearing the way for renewed enforcement of a court order designed to give neighbors a break from the volume of rock concerts.

“It’s full steam ahead,” said Richard Spix, the lawyer for neighbors who have fought a three-year battle to quiet the 18,500-seat Costa Mesa outdoor theater.

Spix has alleged that rock concerts, beginning in May, violated a court order requiring Ned West Inc., the amphitheater operators, to comply with Orange County noise-control limits.

On July 29, an appellate judge intervened at the request of Ned West and froze all lower-court action. That stay was dissolved Thursday by Justice Edward J. Wallin of the 4th District Court of Appeal in Santa Ana.

Contempt Charges Pending

Ned West had been ordered to answer contempt-of-court charges at a hearing Tuesday, which was delayed largely because of uncertainty stemming from the appellate court’s action.

That hearing has been rescheduled for Sept. 15.

“They (Ned West officials) are in contempt for numerous concerts which have occurred in the past,” Spix said. “This time we’re going to show them the big stick.”

The immediate effect of Wallin’s action is to renew orders by Orange County Superior Court Judge Gary L. Taylor, which include:

- A requirement that Ned West warn all entertainers preparing to perform that they may be in violation of court orders.

- A return to monitoring concerts by noise experts. Taylor first made Ned West pay all costs of monitoring, then split costs between neighbors and the amphitheater.

- A return to a firm standard by which Ned West’s compliance, or non-compliance, can be judged. Taylor set a specific decibel limit for sound beyond the amphitheater’s perimeter.

Lawyers for Ned West could not be reached for comment. Spix was elated by his victory in the appellate court and looked forward to the contempt hearings scheduled for next month.

“We’re not going to make them turn it down again,” Spix said. “We’re going to decide what to do because they didn’t turn them down before.”

Taylor’s May 8 order was applauded by Costa Mesa officials, who themselves had sought unsuccessfully to enforce volume limits. Since then, continuing hearings have refined terms of the order and gradually created a mechanism for enforcement.

Taylor ruled that neighbors have become captive to the intrusive sounds of concert volume. Some neighbors said they can feel vibrations inside their homes from some concerts.

Taylor’s order, effectively reinstated Thursday, found that neighbors deserve volume controls so they may regain privacy, health and the “comfortable enjoyment of life.”