The East Village residents who’ve objected for years about excessively loud concert noise at a public green space outside Petco Park have ratcheted up their recent legal complaint. The City of San Diego and the San Diego Padres are named in a request for a Temporary Restraining Order and Immediate Injunction.
A Superior Court hearing has been set for Thursday, September 28, 2023.
The petition by the group Residents Concerned About Gallagher Square Noise states:
“The evidence is both substantial and clear: noise levels from concerts at Gallagher Square regularly exceed applicable limits set by the [San Diego Municipal Code]…Together with excessive, flashing lights and vibrations, they constitute a public nuisance…The Padres have a duty to comply with the law, and the City has a duty to enforce it. Unfortunately, their collective inaction demonstrates that they are unwilling to fulfill their respective duties.”
The petition asks the court to order the Padres to cease operation of concerts at Gallagher Square (not concerts held inside Petco Park) that produce noise in excess of 55 decibels. And to order the city to enforce the issue.
The filing also asks that the city perform a detailed acoustic study of concerts held at Gallagher Square Park.
For now, there are three concerts scheduled for Gallagher Square Park in October and one in early November.
Those concerts are: pop-rockers The All-American Rejects (October 6); dance/electronic show LED presents RL Grime (October 26); alt-rock band Hozier (October 29); and Dia de los Deftones (November 4), featuring shoegaze metal and a variety of high-volume music genres (see video, below).
Gallagher Square Park is the current name of the former Park at the Park outside Petco Park. Often, more than 5,000 attendees fill Gallagher Square for concerts held on the Sycuan Stage, which can accommodate nearly 100,000 pounds of production equipment.
Unlike concerts held inside Petco Park, Gallagher Square concerts have amplification systems pointed directly at several residential condo buildings in the neighborhood.
In late May, the Padres announced a $20-million renovation of Gallagher Square Park. The intended plan was for the renovation to be completed in the team’s off-season, and in time for Opening Day in March 2024.
Despite protests from the Concerned Residents group, in mid-June a city review process approved the renovation without public debate.
Due to the current litigation, none of the parties are presently discussing the issue. The Padres did previously say that one part of the renovation will address sound levels from concerts.
The Concerned Residents responded by asking that if that sound mitigation is possible, why hasn’t it already been done?
The City would seem to have a conflicting interest in its oversight of Gallagher Square concerts. The events are run by the Padres and the city shares 30% of revenue from the concerts.
During an East Village Residents Group meeting held in July, San Diego mayor Todd Gloria was questioned about the noise complaints. He promised: “Yes, I will ask the Padres to do an independent study…yes, we should enforce noise ordinances.”
The mayor added that noise-level mandates in place at other downtown venues that host music concerts–The Rady Shell and Waterfront Park–“sound reasonable.”
The city’s review process that greenlighted the Gallagher Square renovation was nominated for an “Onion” award from the San Diego Architectural Foundation. That story is here.
The SDAF will name the recipients of its “Orchids & Onions” recognition program during its October 5 gala. SDSun
☀️Ballots close October 1 in The Sun’s Downtown Dining Readers’ Poll. Win an SD Bay cruise!☀️
