Bend denies 3 of 4 Crow’s Feet Commons noise variances

There’s another music drama in Bend, this time regarding the Brooks Street Promenade, a popular spot for Crow’s Feet Commons concerts — and also only about 250 feet from downtown’s Tower Theatre.

On Wednesday night, the Bend City Council upheld City Manager Eric King’s decision to approve only one of four noise variances sought in permit by Crow’s Feet Commons. He approved the variance for a St. Patrick’s Day concert, but denied trequests to exceed the decibel limit for nighttime events on three other dates in March and April.

The noise permits would have allowed those shows to reach 85 decibels. The Tower Theatre objected, saying that the sound bleeds through their walls and disrupts their own performances.

The single permit approved was one in which Crow’s Feet had agreed to face the stage toward the west, away from the theater. That is a concern for Crow’s Feet, because people live in that direction, across Mirror Pond.

In a letter to the city council, the owner of Crow’s Feet Commons, David Marchi, stated:

“It would be an unfortunate circumstance if we continue to be disapproved for a noise variance because we are looking to protect the 100’s of residents in the westside neighborhoods instead of causing sound conflicts with the Tower Theatre. We are providing wholesome community events that are cleaning up a specific part of downtown Bend that has seen its fair share of issues and criminal activity,”

The executive director of the Tower Theatre, Ray Solley, said Thursday he likes the Crow’s Feet shows and enjoys the energy they bring to downtown Bend, but he wants to make sure they work with the surroundings.

“It’s really not about scheduling, and it’s not really about DB levels,” Solley said. “It’s about what’s appropriate for the area, what’s appropriate for safety in the area, for parking in the area, and what’s appropriate for the sound-sensitive buildings that are surrounding the Brooks Promenade area.”

Crow’s Feet Commons is still permitted to hold shows on the dates that were denied, but the sound must remain below 70 decibels.

“We don’t think that the plaza area of the downtown Brooks Promenade was conceived or built as an outdoor loud large rock-and-roll music venue,” Solley said. “It clearly was never designed for that, any more than the Tower was designed to bring in traveling Broadway shows like ‘Phantom of the Opera.’ We’re just not built that way — we’re too small. Those are not appropriate uses of our space.”

If you are interested in reading about the decision and the arguments, you can check out these links:

http://bend.granicus.com/metaviewer.php?view_id=9&clip_id=423&meta_id=22929

http://bend.granicus.com/metaviewer.php?view_id=9&clip_id=423&meta_id=22933

http://bend.granicus.com/metaviewer.php?view_id=9&clip_id=423&meta_id=22930