Laguna Beach officials OK additional sound study, ticket fee at Irvine Bowl

As Laguna Beach prepares to host more concerts inside the Irvine Bowl later this month, city officials plan to move forward with additional analysis to help guide a sound policy for the venue.

The City Council, on Sept. 22, unanimously approved the suspension of the Festival of Arts sound policy, which provided a runway for three nights of concerts to take place during the upcoming Coast Film & Music Festival.

A 2,600-seat amphitheater on the festival grounds, city leaders and community members have shown interest in activating the Irvine Bowl for more events outside of the busy summer season, when it serves as home to the Pageant of the Masters.

The sound policy was previously lifted for concerts headlined by Jack Johnson in November. Laguna Beach retained Rincon Consultants, Inc. to monitor the sound, including its impact on the adjacent neighborhoods and the surrounding biological resources.

As part of its action, the council authorized an additional scope of work for the consultant, in an amount not to exceed $12,386. Sound could be monitored at up to nine locations, according to a city staff report.

The council also adopted a resolution to have a $5 ticket entrance fee attached to admission to the festival grounds for events that are not programmed by the Festival of Arts. Revenue generated by the fee would be reinvested into the areas for which it provides access, including the Irvine Bowl.

“I don’t see how we would ever come up with a workable approach to have live music at the Irvine Bowl, and a workable sound policy, unless we’re able to get more data and assess how we can come up with the right mitigation,” Councilman Alex Rounaghi said. “What we’re doing here is essentially creating a framework where we’re trying these different mitigation approaches out, but then also creating a funding stream through the $5 fee that could potentially be reinvested into further mitigation.”

Rounaghi said he found the Jack Johnson concert to be “one of the most magical nights of being in Laguna, because the whole community came together, the downtown came alive, and we need to have more of that. I feel that we can do it in a way where we can thoughtfully mitigate the noise impacts.”

Matthew Schneider, the city’s director of community development, noted that the city of Irvine recently assessed a $5 fee on tickets to the Daisy Chain Fields music festival.

An event that sold 2,000 tickets would allow the city to bring in $10,000. Financial analysis provided in a staff report said the city has spent $56,323 to date studying sound and biological resources in and around the festival grounds.

Sound mitigation measures considered have included directional speakers, temporary and permanent sound walls, and limitations on the concurrent use of the Irvine Bowl and the green on the Festival of Arts grounds for live music.

The Coast Film & Music Festival will host concerts during its closing weekend, Oct. 23-25, headlined by Rainbow Body, Ben Harper and Amos Lee.

During the public hearing, speakers shared concerns regarding the collection of data. A request was made to consider the peak sound level, as opposed to a 15-minute average. Another questioned who was being consulted in making determinations about impacts on wildlife in the open space.

“I kind of do question the whole concept of an average,” Councilman Bob Whalen said. “Over what period of time are you going to average things? Fifteen minutes of 90 or 100 [decibels] is a lot of noise directed at one place. I think we’ve still got a lot to think about in terms of adjusting the policy … Let’s collect the data, but … make sure we’re getting the right data to make a good decision after the final report comes in.”