Fair Board Approves Amended Settlement in Amphitheater Noise Fight

The Orange County Fair Board on Thursday approved an amended settlement in the long-running dispute over noise complaints directed at Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa.

The vote by the state body came in a closed session and included modifications to a draft agreement already approved by the city and the amphitheater’s operators. Fair manager Norbert J. Bartosik said he could not divulge the changes.

“We’d like to discuss the modifications with the city and the amphitheater first,” Bartosik said. “Then we can make a joint statement.”

A meeting among the three parties was scheduled for today, Bartosik said.

Since 1983, when the 18,500-seat amphitheater was built and the first rock concerts staged, the operators have been sued over noise and crowd capacity by the state, the city and a neighborhood group.

Homeowner Objects

Before the Fair Board went into closed session, Norman Snow, a homeowner who lives just north of the amphitheater, objected to the proposed settlement.

“Please reconsider,” he said. “You will let the amphitheater run amok as it has in the past. Reject this agreement for what it is, a sham.”

Under the draft settlement approved by the City Council last week, Ned West Inc.--which operates the amphitheater under a 40-year lease from the Fair Board--would pay penalties of up to $9,000 a night if its concerts exceed county noise limits. The money would go for the purchase for nearby homeowners of double-paned windows and other noise-reducing measures.

The settlement would put a cap on concert hours and include new parking and traffic standards. It would also prevent the city from subsidizing a lawsuit filed against Ned West in January, 1984, by Concerned Citizens of Costa Mesa Inc., a neighborhood anti-noise group. The city has been sued by the amphitheater for its contributions.

The City Council is expected to decide on a final settlement next month.

The settlement was negotiated by City Manager Allan Roeder and representatives of Ned West and the Fair Board. Concerned Citizens, which was not included in the negotiations, received its copy of the settlement draft when it was released to the public.

The city has said it has already spent more than $60,000 to support Concerned Citizens of Costa Mesa in its legal disputes.

More Money Authorized

In February, the City Council authorized another $25,000 for the suit against Ned West, but the group has only received $13,000 of that money so far, according to Russell Millar, president of Concerned Citizens.

Millar said the citizens group voted this week to reject the city’s proposed settlement unless changes were made. He said the group wants three major changes:

- A much higher maximum fine than $9,000 on nights the amphitheater exceeds noise level standards.

- A voice in choosing the noise expert who will monitor and referee compliance with the settlement.

- Prohibition of the City Council from raising the county’s sound levels to allow additional noise from the amphitheater, as the settlement could allow.

Millar said that despite any settlement discussions, his group will press ahead with its lawsuit, next scheduled for a hearing before Orange County Superior Court Judge Richard J. Beacom on May 11. The group needs to raise $10,000 to remain in court, he said.