DATE: Tuesday, September 23, 1997           TAG: 9709230214

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL  

SOURCE: BY JOHN MURPHY, STAFF WRITER

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:  160 lines

CORRECTION/CLARIFICATION: ***************************************************************** A chart Tuesday with a story on noise complaints about the GTE Amphitheater was incomplete. There were three complaints from Salem Lakes for the Hank Williams Jr. concert and three more from Salem Lakes for the FM99 Lunatic Luau concert, bringing the total number of complaints to 79. The paper inadvertently ran an incomplete draft version of the chart that had spelling errors and was missing information. Correction published Wednesday, September 24, 1997. ***************************************************************** AMPHITHEATER HEARS FROM NEIGHBORS MOST COMPLAINTS ARE TIED TO STYLE, NOT VOLUME, REPORT SAYS

Earth, Wind & Fire doesn't stir the blood of residents of Salem Lakes and Landstown.

Nor are they riled by the Moody Blues.

It's Parrot Heads, Counting Crows and one Snoop Doggy Dogg that cause blood pressures to rise in the quiet, curved streets of these popular Beach neighborhoods.

That's what a report compiled by the managers of GTE Virginia Beach Amphitheater reveals about noise complaints during this year's concert season.

Of the 30 concerts held at the amphitheater this summer, 19 drew the ire of nearby homeowners.

Interestingly, according to the report, there was little difference in the actual noise levels measured at the 30 concerts. The variation seemed to lie more with style of music than volume.

For many residents, banging drums, ear-piercing guitar licks and the cheers of a sellout crowd sometimes aren't the sounds of music.

``It's a mush and mumble of noise,'' said Dennis Borgerding of Salem Lakes.

A former Navy employee whose specialty was detecting submarines by the noise they make, Borgerding keeps track of all the performances. He has not been happy with what he's heard.

He recalled a July 28 concert by the band Boston as particularly annoying.

``When they turned the bass up, it was loud, geez,'' he said, gripping the arms of his couch as if the memory itself would knock him over.

Boston's thundering rock generated just three noise complaints, according to the city report.

That's rather tame compared to the Mini Fest on July 18, featuring rhythm and blues artists Morris Day, Cameo, Robert Troutman & Zapp.

The festival topped the list with 11 calls to the amphitheater's complaint hot line, easily outdistancing such volume notables as The Who, No Doubt and Phish.

And there were some events that passed without complaints, including: an Easter Service; the Beach Boys; Peter, Paul & Mary; Earth, Wind & Fire and anything with the Virginia Symphony, including evenings with Victor Borge, John Tesh and the Moody Blues.

No surprise there, amphitheater officials say.

``If we have a heavy metal band or an alternative band, we have more complaints,'' said Mike Tabor, general manager of Cellar Door of Virginia Inc., the company that manages the amphitheater.

There are 3,000 homeowners bordering the amphitheater, and so far this year, there have been a total of 79 noise complaints. Those numbers are way down over last summer, when 169 neighbors asked for peace and quiet during 21 of the season's 34 performances.

Tabor credits the reduction in unhappy neighbors to the amphitheater's efforts to control sound levels:

Sound buffers have been installed on the outside of the lawn speaker system; the sound hot line allows residents to notify Cellar Door as soon as there is a problem with noise; and a roving patrol personally responds to residents' complaints.

Cellar Door also installed a computerized sound monitoring system.

Still, the amphitheater must battle other contributors: atmospheric conditions (sound travels faster and therefore farther on clear nights; humidity deadens noise), crowd size, wind direction and public perception of the band, Tabor said.

By law, the sound level in neighboring communities is not allowed to go above 60 decibels, the approximate level of a person talking about 3 feet away. In the two seasons the amphitheater has been open, that limit has never been crossed.

``Ever since we've been here we've never been in violation, but we are not going to discontinue the sound-monitoring,'' Tabor said. ``If anything, we have stepped up our efforts to control sound. We want to be good neighbors.''

Tabor offers the amphitheater's voluntary reduction in the sound limit as evidence. The decibel level at the sound mixing board has a 105-decibel limit. Tabor said the bands are asked to keep to 102 decibels, slightly louder than a circular saw.

Yet Doug DeBerry, who lives in Salem Lakes, a community of about 1,200 families, said he hasn't noticed a difference over last summer

``They said they had made all these changes to cut down on noise. It still sounds the same to me,'' he said.

The noise level issue has been raised at several City Council meetings over the summer. Many council members reported receiving calls from angry residents during concerts. On one occasion, a resident put the telephone receiver out the door, asking the council member to listen to the music.

``The city and Cellar Door should be working together to ameliorate the noise impact on these adjacent neighborhoods. We put the amphitheater next to them. They didn't move next to us,'' said Councilwoman Nancy K. Parker.

Councilwoman Louisa M. Strayhorn said the complaints are a problem and will need to be addressed before the next season. But because Cellar Door has not exceeded the 60 decibel limit outlined in its agreement with the city, there is little the city can force the managers to do.

``We don't know what should happen. We are bound by a contract that we signed. They haven't violated that agreement,'' she said.

A noise impact study prepared for the city in 1995 predicted there would be complaints at first, but concludes: ``The frequency and degree of the complaints can be expected to diminish over time, as the amphitheater noise becomes an accepted part of the summertime noise environment.''

Neighbors, however, do not appreciate that finding.

``I translate that as `They'll get used to it and give up,' '' Borgerding said.

For the most part, they have.

The report attributes 66 percent of the complaints to just 8 people, a fraction of the neighborhood's overall population.

Borgerding, however, remains one of the most vigilant watchdogs of the amphitheater. He complained even during one of the concerts he liked, the James Taylor show. At the time Borgerding called the hot line, Taylor was singing ``You've got a friend.''

While talking with a visitor in a field near the amphitheater, Borgerding watched as two F-14s thundered overhead drowning out the conversation.

``I understand I can't get away from that,'' he said, pointing up at the sky. ``But I don't think I should have to hear the amphitheater noise three or four times every week.''

Councilman William W. Harrison Jr., a leading proponent of the amphitheater, said he understands the noise is a problem for some residents.

``I sat in a lawn chair in (Borgerding's) neighborhood, and I did not find the noise level obnoxious,'' he said. ``But for some people that level is different.''

Harrison said the city should work with Cellar Door to alleviate the problem. Lowering the volume levels allowed is probably not an option.

The decibel limits were established before Cellar Door entered its contract with the city. If the city changes the conditions of the contract, Cellar Door could opt to pull out, leaving the city to scramble to book acts.

If the decibel limits were lowered, Tabor said he wouldn't be able to get a band to play. ``Most of the bands are particular. They're artists who want to sound the best for their fans,'' he said.

Harrison said the city should investigate other possibilities to reduce noise problems, including more sound buffers and changes to the speaker system.

He also notes that many nearby residents do not mind the amphitheater.

That is clear from Cellar Door's report. During the sold-out Jimmy Buffet show, a Cellar Door employee responded to a complaint from a woman in Salem Lakes, but was surprised by the reaction he got from her neighbors:

``. . . I was accosted by several of her neighbors with the request that the sound level be turned up so that they may hear it,'' the employee notes in the report.

``When I informed them that that could not be done, they offered me large amounts of beverage to change my mind. I thanked them but had to continue the patrol.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by Huy Nguyen

Dennis Borgerding

Photo by Vicki Cronis/The Virginian-Pilot

Packed house on a foggy night at the amphitheater

Graphic

Noise Levels at GTE Amphitheater

For complete copy, see microfilm KEYWORDS: NOISE LEVEL GTE AMPHITHEATER DECIBALS

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