New spot, old spat: 4 Peaks draws fire at larger venue

(Update: Added summary of online comment posting by Minar)

The pushback on a popular Bend festival continues. Some angry neighbors are speaking out over the new location of the 4 Peaks Music Festival.

“We moved here to enjoy small-farm life,” Steve Minar said Friday.

For it’s 10th year, the festival has moved from Tumalo to a new location in southeast Bend. Owner and promoter Stacy Totland said she knows it’s an adjustment for property owners.

“We do sympathize with the neighbors, because this is our first year on the Stevenson Ranch site. So it takes a little getting used to,” she said.

Minar claimed the festival is not sticking to requirements: “The permit they have been given, they have so far exceeded noise levels at our site.”

According to Deschutes County code, mass gatherings can’t exceed 70 decibels before 10 p.m. and the level must drop to 50 afterwards.

“We’ve actually been below our decibel level,” Totland said. “We have three people with different decibel readers, from iPhones to the real decibel readers on several parts of our fence, and we go out there and measure every hour that there’s music, and we have been completely in compliance.”

The festival agreement also states camping will start at noon Thursday. Minar said his drone footage shows it started taking place earlier.

Totland said there was activity, but not camping.

“We do have people setting up — the vendors, the stakes, the campground parking, the fire lanes, all the safety and security that we have to have in place for this, we start setting up Tuesday,” she said.

In a follow-up post Saturday to KTVZ.COM, Minar detailed his and other neighbors’ “significant issues” with the festival and the process of howit came to be held there, ranging from the impacts of the loud music on numerous animals to the unprecedented nature of what the neighboring land is hosting, which could grow even larger next year.

Minar said Friday evening he is a musician himself and respects the craft. He just doesn’t want it so close to his house and farm animals.

That request could be granted.

“We might scale it back, as far as where we do it on the property, because this property is over 200 acres,” Totland said.

She said she wants Stevenson Ranch to be the permanent venue for 4 Peaks and wants to work with neighbors to resolve their concerns.