COLORADO SPRINGS — Dozens of residents living near the Ford Amphitheater in north Colorado Springs showed up to voice their concerns about concert noise during Tuesday's city council meeting.
The 8,000-seat amphitheater, owned by Venu, opened nearly three weeks ago at Polaris Pointe near I-25 and Voyager Parkway. During the council meeting, some people living nearby spoke during a portion of public comment about the noise levels heard in their neighborhood during concerts and soundchecks.
"Sleeping and early bedtimes, along with school night routines have been disrupted. Pets, those with PTSD, and others have been unnecessarily startled with the repeated, sometimes explosive sounds," said one Flying Horse resident.
"Despite the assurance that a sound wall would mitigate the noise, it has failed miserably. Even though we live over a mile away, we hear the music loud and clear," said another resident who lives east of the amphitheater.
A spokesperson for the City of Colorado Springs said the city has received 762 complaints about the amphitheater through the city's GoCos! online reporting form as of Monday. The spokesperson said some residents may have filed multiple complaints, but there is no way to track duplicates because complaints can be filed anonymously.
Councilmember Nancy Henjum, who voted to approve the project, said she now has regrets about her decision.
"I voted for it in large part because I really believed that it had been vetted well through the city," she said. "Looking back now, I wished I had been a little, I don't know if I want to say less trustful, but a little bit more like, 'Could we have put some other more strong teeth in the development plan at that time when we had the chance?'"
Robert Mudd, President of Venu, attended the council meeting and spoke during public comment. He acknowledged the neighbors' concerns about noise, but could not answer about any sound mitigation changes that may happen in the future.
On Monday, Venu sent a press release saying the amphitheater had adhered to all sound requirements outlined in its development plan during its first few weeks open. Venu said the noise data was collected by a third-party company. Councilmember Henjum said the venue still needs to do more to decrease noise levels in neighborhoods.
"Trust has really been broken here with the City Council, with the city administration, previous, current, and we have to start looking at, how do we repair that trust?" said Henjum.
Councilmember Dave Donelson, who voted against the project partially because of potential noise, said Venu isn't doing enough to mitigate the sound.
“The ultimate solution is the noise stops hitting the houses, right?" he said. "I don’t think they’re [Venu] doing enough. I think they need to do more. The city needs to encourage that to happen.”
Donelson said several solutions to decrease decibel levels in neighborhoods could include building a larger sound wall around the entire concert venue, repositioning speakers, or simply turning down the volume.
Kaia Sailor, a resident living just over a mile away from the Ford Amphitheater, said she and her husband were initially happy about the plans to build the Ford Amphitheater. However, she said she never imagined the noise she would hear from her back porch once the concerts began this month.
"With all honesty, I have been very depressed. And, you know, to be talking to my husband about moving out of this house that we worked so hard to buy is really sad to us," she said. "Somebody needs to make it right."
City Council President Randy Helms said he and other city leaders are meeting with the amphitheater's owners on Wednesday to discuss ways to decrease noise levels in surrounding neighborhoods.
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