DATE: Saturday, October 11, 1997            TAG: 9710110472

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY GREG GOLDFARB, CORRESPONDENT 

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:   87 lines

NEIGHBORS ANGRY, FRUSTRATED OVER NOISE FROM AMPHITHEATERNEARBY RESIDENTS SAY THAT THEIR REPEATED COMPLAINTS HAVEN'T MADE A DIFFERENCE.

Elton John will perform this season's final GTE Virginia Beach Amphitheater concert tonight, but for some of the facility's neighbors, the issue of unwanted noise remains far from over.

Angered and frustrated, several residents are vowing to file suit, if necessary, to quiet the music.

In response, the City Council has asked Cellar Door officials, who operate the amphitheater, to appear at Tuesday's public meeting at City Hall.

Cellar Door has yet to violate an agreement limiting sound levels in the neighborhood to under 60 decibels. Neighbors, however, maintain that during many concerts the noise is audible inside their homes.

Among those upset is David Cutchin, an 11-year Salem Lakes resident, who lives about a quarter-mile from the facility.

``If it comes down to us having to take the city and the amphitheater to court, so be it,'' Cutchin said last Sunday night from his front yard, where sounds of alternative rockers Live, Lucious Jackson and Manbreak could be heard from the amphitheater.

``I don't want to see it come to that. I just want the noise turned down. It's very much of a nuisance to have to come home and listen to noise. I would never have bought a home in this area if I had known there was going to be an amphitheater in my back yard.''

The noise issue is not new. It began even before the amphitheater was built, when neighbors expressed concerns about whether they'd be able to hear concerts from their homes.

The city and Cellar Door hammered out a five-page document in March 1995 - two months before the amphitheater opened - outlining sound restrictions.

Since then, neighbors have continued to register complaints through a special hot line set up by the amphitheater. Last year, the city received 169 calls about noise problems. This year, 79 complaints had been logged through mid-September.

While those numbers are down, neighbors argue that the problems persist.

``We don't want to shut them down, we just want them to be good neighbors,'' said Dennis Borgerding, president of the 1,100-home Salem Lakes Civic League. ``Bill Reid (president of Cellar Door) promised us in the beginning that we would not hear the music in our homes.''

Linda Fleeger, a seven-year Landstown Lakes resident, said that if the city can't force the amphitheater to comply with agreements made before it opened, then a new one needs to be reached.

``I would like to see an independent study done,'' she said. ``This problem has happened at other amphitheaters across the country. Let's see how those cases were solved. . . . The cheapest and easiest action they can take is to simply turn it down.''

Reba S. McClanan, in whose Princess Anne borough the amphitheater is located, is one of several City Council members aware of the concerns and who wants answers.

``There seems to be some conflict between what is in the city ordinance and what is occurring,'' said McClanan. ``The ordinance says that people with noise complaints need to call the police department and go through a certain procedure. I don't even know if the police are equipped to measure noise levels.

``I heard that people were supposed to call the amphitheater manager to complain. It always struck me as strange; it's like the fox watching the hen house.''

According to ``Lake Ridge Amphitheater Sound Restrictions,'' there is a process for registering complaints about the amphitheater, including sound levels, blaring spotlights and traffic congestion. They are to be made to the police department or to the amphitheater office.

First, the police department shall be notified immediately of all sound calls taken at the facility, the document says in its noise enforcement section.

Next, the police department or zoning administration is supposed to perform sound measurements.

In addition, if there are more than a few valid complaints, the city manager's office is supposed to be notified within 72 hours, and if other violations occur, the amphitheater staff is required to prepare a sound mitigation plan to prevent future noise problems.

Residents say they're tired of complaining and that it hasn't made a difference.

Cellar Door President Bill Reid said the amphitheater has not exceeded the 60-decibel threshold and that a sound mitigation plan has not been prepared.

Besides, Reid said, his staff voluntarily has added additional sound buffers, the noise complaint hot line, roving neighborhood patrols and a $30,000 computerized sound monitoring system that provides instant measurements.

Reid questions how many neighbors actually are complaining about the noise.

``Noise is in the ears of the beholder,'' he said. KEYWORDS: GTE VIRGINIA BEACH AMPHITHEATER

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