Local News in Brief : Costa Mesa : Anti-Noise Group Balks at Amphitheater Plan

Settlement talks collapsed Tuesday in the long-running legal battle over noise at Pacific Amphitheatre when the attorney for a neighborhood anti-noise group rejected as inadequate a proposal to enforce sound levels at the open-air concert bowl through a system of fines.

“We’re in court looking for teeth in enforcing the standards,” said Richard Spix, attorney for Concerned Citizens of Costa Mesa Inc. “We’re seeking two warnings followed by closure for non-compliance.”

Spix dismissed proposed fines--of up to $9,000 a concert when sound levels are exceeded--as too low to make any difference.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Richard J. Beacom set a May 31 trial date for the Concerned Citizens suit against Ned West Inc., operator of the amphitheater under a 40-year lease on the state-owned Orange County Fairgrounds.

Concerned Citizens sued Ned West in January, 1984, claiming that the 18,500-capacity theater failed to comply with state environmental laws and that concert noise made the amphitheater a neighborhood nuisance. The group also has claimed that Ned West operators have repeatedly violated Superior Court-ordered noise limits.

Ned West, the fair’s board of directors and the city of Costa Mesa had reached a tentative settlement last month over the noise dispute. But that agreement foundered over objections from the citizens’ group.

Ned West attorney Neil Papiano said he was “disappointed that Mr. Spix declined to agree to the settlement that all the other parties agreed to.”

“We’re back to square one,” Orange County Fair Board spokeswoman Jill Lloyd said.