The Padres have turned Gallagher Square at Petco Park into one of the region’s busiest music venues. Twelve high-profile concerts, ranging from country and rock to punk and electronic acts, are scheduled there in October alone.
But tucked into the middle of the busy concert calendar is another big date, this one in court. On Oct. 16, residents living above Gallagher Square will ask a judge to force the Padres to reduce concert noise and comply with the city’s noise ordinance, while also compelling the city to enforce it.
The judge’s decision, barring any appeals, will end a three-year court battle brought by residents seeking relief from what they describe as unmitigated, unfiltered concert noise from Gallagher Square that penetrates their homes on a weekly basis.
The residents argue that two environmental reviews for the ballpark — one in 1992 and another in 1999 — never studied the impact of outdoor concerts at the square, formerly known as Park at the Park.
Instead, attorneys for the residents say, the city focused on noise impacts from concerts inside Petco Park.
Gallagher Square, with an estimated capacity of 6,000 people, is an open area, but Petco Park is not. Sound levels from concerts inside the ballpark dissipate as noise travels across the field and is absorbed by outfield walls, seating areas and the stadium structure.
To mitigate concert noise, the Padres capped sound levels for shows within the main stadium area to 95 decibels measured 100 feet from the stage, where the soundboard is located.
The problem, residents say, is that unlike for concerts in the ballpark, Gallagher Square has no physical sound barriers. Instead, the noise travels directly into their homes and bedrooms. The city, the residents argue, does not apply the same 95-decibel limit to shows at Gallagher Square.
As attorneys for the city spent hundreds of hours litigating the case, city staff has been busy shoring up its noise ordinance. In June, the San Diego City Council amended the city ordinance to allow permitted concert venues to exceed allowable noise limits citywide temporarily.
Nicole Darling, a city spokesperson, said venues or special event permit holders are in some cases allowed to exceed noise limits, but they must follow all rules laid out in the city’s guide for special permits. In some cases, those rules require permit holders to conduct decibel readings at designated locations at the event.
“…[T]here may be limited situations where temporary exceptions to average noise level limits are allowed when authorized through an approved special event permit, development permit or other permit or agreement,” Darling wrote in a statement.
