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Venue on offense in noise battle

By JAY CRIDLIN
Published February 19, 2005

TAMPA - In the battle over concert noise at the Ford Amphitheatre, Clear Channel Entertainment is going on the offensive.

Two months after the Hillsborough County Environmental Protection Commission sued the entertainment giant over amphitheater concert noise, Clear Channel has countersued, calling the county's noise rules "unconstitutionally vague" and EPC data culled from the concerts "flawed and unreliable."

Clear Channel asked a judge to find county and state noise rules unconstitutional and throw out an EPC lawsuit that seeks to temporarily halt concerts.

"All we're asking for are fair and reasonable rules from the EPC," said Susan Elmore, a amphitheater spokeswoman in Houston. "It appears that the rules are being strictly enforced at the Ford Amphitheatre, but we're not clear that they're being as strictly enforced in other parts of the county."

The EPC grants noise ordinance exemptions to certain large-scale events, like Gasparilla and Guavaween. To tolerate some events but not others, Clear Channel says, could be a First Amendment violation.

On Thursday, Clear Channel attorneys sent the EPC a letter asking the county to exempt the amphitheater, which has drawn more than 164,000 fans to 17 concerts since opening last summer.

EPC general counsel Rick Tschantz said since the letter was sent the same day as the lawsuit, it would be difficult to view Clear Channel's First Amendment claims as valid.

"There's a process for (requesting exemption), but they've never availed themselves of it," said Tschantz, who said he had not seen the letter Friday evening. "We wouldn't consider that unless we had an official request from them."

Clear Channel's lawsuit also questions the county's noise-measuring techniques. For example, the EPC recorded elevated noise levels during an Nov. 12 Norah Jones concert. But Elmore said that concert spiked only once above the decibel limit, and that was due to crowd noise, not the music onstage.

"If a cheering crowd can put us over the benchmark, maybe the benchmark is too low," she said.

The next Clear Channel event at the Ford Amphitheatre is a daylong Jimmy Buffett celebration and concert on Feb. 26.

That morning, the EPC and Clear Channel are scheduled to meet in a rare Saturday court session, where a judge will rule on the EPC's request for an injunction blocking all concerts.

Jay Cridlin can be reached at 727 893-9866 or cridlin@sptimes.com

[Last modified February 19, 2005, 00:56:09]