DATE: Wednesday, October 15, 1997           TAG: 9710150505

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B6   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY JOHN MURPHY, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:   56 lines

CYPRESS TREES TO HELP MUFFLE AMPHITHEATER NOISE

A stand of bushy trees, some tinkering with the speaker systems and a little luck with the weather may help quiet the noise complaints that have plagued the GTE Amphitheater since it opened two years ago.

Those were the promises offered to City Council on Tuesday by Cellar Door of Virginia Inc., the company that manages the amphitheater.

During an hourlong presentation to council, Cellar Door officials proudly clicked off their sound reduction achievements:

The number of callers to the complaint hotline dropped from 179 to 94 during the 1996 and 1997 concert seasons. The company installed a $30,000 computerized sound management system. And, it has voluntarily reduced its decibel limit at concerts.

But council members demanded more.

``Tell me specifically what are we going to do to deal with the issue,'' demanded Councilwoman Nancy K. Parker.

G. Wilson Rogers, executive vice president of Cellar Door, responded with three measures that he hopes will help reduce sound leaking from the amphitheater:

A stand of cypress trees will be planted on either side of the amphitheater. These trees will serve as a sound buffer during the concerts.

The lawn speakers will be adjusted so they focus directly on the crowd.

And perhaps, he suggested, the amphitheater should purchase better speakers, which would decrease sound distortion.

Rogers said many of the noise problems originate because of weather conditions. Wind is a major culprit in carrying sound, he said.

Residents of Salem Lakes and Landstown have grown frustrated with the amphitheater noise. Several neighbors have vowed to sue, if necessary, to quiet the ear-piercing guitar licks, banging drums and cheers of a sellout crowd.

Under an agreement with the city, the noise levels are not to go above 60 decibels, about the loudness of a conversation. Cellar Door has yet to violate that limit, but residents have continued to complain.

Council members defended the residents on Tuesday.

``I'm really troubled that people have to complain in order for us to recognize there is a problem,'' said Councilwoman Barbara M. Henley.

She said that the problem should not be gauged by the number of complaints, most of which have originated in Salem Lakes and Landstown neighborhoods.

Henley accused Cellar Door of being in denial about the problem.

Rogers bristled at the suggestion.

``We are not in a state of denial. If we get one complaint from anyone, we respond,'' he said.

Parker reminded Cellar Door of who lived in the neighborhood first.

``We put this amphitheater adjacent to these neighborhoods. They made their concerns known ahead of time,'' she said.

Councilwoman Reba S. McClanan added that a new soccer complex near the amphitheater also has angered neighbors with dust kicked up from the parking lots and crowd noise.

``The frustration level (in the neighborhoods) is very high,''she said.

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