Rock Concert Promoter Negotiates to Build Amphitheater in Carlsbad

San Diego rock concert promoter Bill Silva is negotiating with Carlsbad for approval to build an amphitheater next year that would accommodate 18,000 patrons, a city official said Monday.

Meanwhile, Spectator Corp. of La Jolla, which withdrew a proposal for a $27-million, 25,000-seat outdoor theater in Oceanside amid political opposition, is searching elsewhere for a new site.

Carlsbad City Manager Ray Patchett said Silva and his representatives are having “very preliminary” discussions with the city to build the amphitheater in Macario Canyon southeast of Agua Hedionda Lagoon or at the Carlsbad Raceway, north of Palomar Airport Road near Vista.

Patchett said he expects a formal proposal when Silva undertakes an environmental study of the project’s effects on traffic, noise and native habitat.

“They need to go do some environmental backgrounding,” Patchett said. “That’s typically where a project gets blown out.”

John Brice, a spokesman for Silva, said, “It was an informal meeting to discuss a possibility. Our goal was to make sure that the sites under consideration would fit in with the city’s growth plan.”

He added, “We are looking for a location that will not interrupt residential serenity, and Carlsbad is one of many municipalities we’ve talked to.”

A memo by city Community Development Director Marty Orenyak said 50 to 75 cultural or musical events would be held annually at the amphitheater.

The proposal calls for a combination theater and small commercial complex with reserved seating for 8,000 patrons and a lawn that would hold an 10,000 more people.

Silva, according to the memo, “noted his desire (to) construct the facility in the 1992 time frame and would like to see the project ‘fast-tracked’ through development processing within a year.”

Orenyak noted that the project could be processed quickly if the city Planning Commission and City Council backed the plan, and any preferred site has no major environmental, access or traffic problems.

But because the Macario Canyon and Carlsbad Raceway sites may raise environmental issues, the city staff suggested that Silva evaluate other local properties, including land owned by Union Pacific Realty.

Orenyak’s memo indicates that Silva is also exploring sites in Poway and Chula Vista.

The Silva plan is yet another effort to bring live, outdoor entertainment to North County, a goal that has proved frustrating and elusive.

Last year, Spectator Corp. fought for approval to build a 25,000-seat amphitheater at a 67-acre site at the intersection of El Camino Real and Oceanside Boulevard.

However, nearby residents, alarmed by the potential noise and arrival of as many as 8,000 vehicles during a sold-out concert, gathered 1,600 signatures urging the City Council to quash the project.

The council did so in March, and, although Spectator vowed to try again in Oceanside, developer Hal Kolker said Monday that Spectator has no further interest in Oceanside.

“We have decided not to deal with that community,” he said.

Kolker, a former vice president of the San Diego Clippers franchise and a former vice president of the San Diego Sports Arena, said Spectator is looking for another amphitheater site somewhere in San Diego County.