Homeowners desperate for solutions to late-night amphitheater noise

By Maddie White

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    LAS VEGAS (KVVU) — Crying out for solutions, but feeling unheard: ironically, a homeowner near Craig Ranch Park said she, her husband and her neighbors are being forced to listen to unwanted noise from evening concerts at the amphitheater. Now, a spokesperson from the city of North Las Vegas is defending the management of their amenity, arguing that they “closely monitor shows for compliance with [their] ordinances.”

The Craig Ranch Park amphitheater, or “The Amp,” as they call it, opened in 2015, and is the only large-scale outdoor amphitheater in Southern Nevada. It can seat up to 6,800 people.

The City of North Las Vegas is currently working to recruit more music acts to The Amp. For this reason, the nearby homeowner said her dread is more serious than ever.

“It is just a constant banging, you hear that bass tone that rattles the walls. It rattles the pictures. It literally thumps in our heads all night long. It is torture, almost… This is with windows closed, doors shut,” said Gail Bashlor, who has lived along the southeast border of the park for 23 years, even before the park was a park. It used to be a golf course.

The concerts usually are scheduled for weekends, but can also run on any day of the week; sometimes on Thursdays or even Tuesdays. They usually begin around 8 p.m. and continue into the evening.

“Somebody with the city had issued a permit for an event that went — I believe it was — until 1 or 2 in the morning,” said Bashlor. “It was another horrendous night.”

She said she does not want to have to move out of her home to somewhere else in the valley, specifically because of how difficult the real estate market is, currently, for buyers.

Sandy Lopez, the public information specialist for the City of North Las Vegas, said, “The sound levels and performance times are within the limits allowed by city ordinance. Because the Amp is an outdoor venue, we schedule live entertainment during limited hours.”

If the noise is as disruptive and as late into the evening as Bashlor claims, the City of North Las Vegas may be violating its own ordinance. According to their online code of ordinances, the city disallows disruptive noise past 11 p.m.

According to a section titled “8.28.020 – Prohibited noise,” unlawful acts in violation include “the playing of any radio, phonograph or a musical instrument in such a manner or with such volume, particularly during the hours between 11 p.m. And 7 a.m., as to annoy or disturb the quiet, comfort or repose of any persons in any office, hospital, dwelling, hotel or other type of residence or of any persons in the vicinity.”

Homeowners have reached their breaking point with the noise.

“My patience is, at this point, it’s null and void, it’s gone,” said Bashlor. “I can’t have any more patience with you. It’s done… I think seven years is long enough. I’m asking you to do something.”

Bashlor said she has made her concerns known to her local representative, City Councilwoman Pamela Goynes-Brown, as well as Cass Palmer, the Director of Neighborhood and Leisure Services for the City of North Las Vegas. She said for seven years, the problem’s persisted.

Palmer and his team however, did plant some trees recently, in hopes of creating a sound barrier.

Bashlor said the trees are not helping.

“While we understand the frustration that this resident is feeling, the Amp provides a wide variety of entertainment that’s in demand by our community,” said Lopez.

Bashlor said she asked Palmer several times if he could have The Amp staff turn down the volume, but said she was told the decibel level was acceptable.

“He always tells me that he’s had his staff check, his staff is on site, they’re checking the decibel levels and they are well within range. And so there’s really, from what he tells me, there’s really nothing they can do to tone down the noise,” said Bashlor.

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