Amphitheater Noise Concern Raised Anew

When the Orange County Fair Board agreed to buy the Pacific Amphitheatre in 1993, residents hailed the transaction as the solution to a noise problem that had plagued them so much that they went to court to get sound restrictions on the concert venue.

But their court-ordered peace and quiet is now in danger, some members of Concerned Citizens of Costa Mesa contend, because the Fair Board filed a lawsuit in October seeking to rescind its purchase of the 18,500-seat theater at the Orange County Fairgrounds from the Nederlander Organization.

The citizens’ group filed a petition Tuesday in Orange County Superior Court asking that earlier court decisions maintaining low noise levels be upheld, regardless of whether the sale is rescinded.

Laurie Lusk, founder of Concerned Citizens, said the sound restrictions were part of the sale contract. Homeowners are worried, she said, that the rules will be thrown out if the sale is overturned.

“Then we are back to where we were 10 years ago or 12 years ago when we started this whole thing,” she said.

Jill Lloyd, spokeswoman for the fair board, had reassuring words for the residents. She said the board has no intention of allowing the noise level at the amphitheater to rise to the point that people in the community would be disturbed.

The board bought the Pacific Amphitheatre, she said, because it wanted to alleviate the noise problem in the neighborhood, not make it worse.