Noise dispute rocks ’n’ roils: Snoqualmie Casino says it’s a good neighbor despite protests
July 20, 2010
By Laura Geggel
NEW — 6:00 p.m. July 20, 2010
As musician Peter Frampton twanged on his guitar at Snoqualmie Casino, about 2,000 fans cheered at the casino’s outdoor Mountain View Plaza, about 10 protestors picketed outside the casino’s entrance and people across Snoqualmie Valley either opened or closed their windows, so they could either hear or block the music wafting from the concert July 15.
Some Snoqualmie residents said they are unhappy with the noise from the casino’s outdoor concerts, calling the noise disruptive. Casino staff said they had voluntarily implemented a sound curfew and decibel limit, and might make changes to the venue next summer.
Snoqualmie residents protest Snoqualmie Casino’s outdoor concert series, which they say is too loud. (By Dan Catchpole)
When the casino opened in 2008, it had two concert venues: the Snoqualmie Ballroom, seating 1,000 people, and Sno Lounge, seating 250 people. Last year, casino staff found they could transform the performers’ parking lot into a concert venue they named Mountain View Plaza, seating about 2,000 people.
“Once we started outdoor shows, we knew that sound was going to travel,” said Snoqualmie Casino Vice President of Marketing Matt Gallagher, explaining why the casino has a 10 p.m. curfew, the same as the city of Snoqualmie’s noise ordinance, and a 95 decibel limit.
Snoqualmie Tribe Administrator Matt Mattson said the tribe supported the decisions.
“The tribe, generally speaking, defers to our own management experts,” Mattson said.
“The management thought that the outdoor concerts would be an added amenity that would drive traffic through the casino, and the tribe deferred to that and thought it was a good recommendation.”
Last summer, the casino held seven outdoor concerts at the plaza. This summer, the casino has 31 shows, holding between one and four concerts per week June 17 – Sept. 2.
The city offered the nearby Snoqualmie Point Park, seating 5,000, as another possible venue for the outdoor concerts, but Mattson said it wasn’t feasible for the casino to hold concerts there because of infrastructure and parking needs.
Two sides to the story
Ron Sorenson, who has lived in Snoqualmie for 40 years, said he and his wife can hear the concerts from their home in downtown Snoqualmie.
“It’s like somebody is playing loud music in their backyard, loudly amplified. You can’t hear every word,” Sorenson said. “It just blares, because it’s going out in this huge, vast sound blast.”
He said the music affected people and children who go to sleep before 10 p.m. and others who don’t like the noise.
“You have to look at that to decide what your schedule is going to be,” he said. “Would you want to have a barbecue? Could your children sleep?”
“It’s affected my well being,” Mike Askers, who lives on Indian Hill, said. “Owning a small business, I go to bed early and it’s affected me.”
A number of people have contacted local representatives, including King County Councilwoman Kathy Lambert, State Reps. Glenn Anderson and Jay Rodne, U.S. Congressman Dave Reichert, Snoqualmie Mayor Matt Larson and the state Governor’s Office of Indian Affairs.
Not everyone minds the music, however.
During the performance July 15, Bruce and Kathy Stevenson sat on their front steps with their two dogs and a couple of beers listening to Yes play up above them.
“It’s wonderful. We love it. It’s like having a stereo in my yard,” Bruce Stevenson said.
Some have asked the casino to reverse the plaza’s configuration, so the speakers would face away from the Valley, but the casino has no plans to do so, Gallagher said.
The stage’s placement allows it to be near the loading dock and the dressing rooms; if it were reversed, the main entrance would be behind the stage, making the flow of foot traffic in and out difficult. And the noise from the back of the stage could be potentially worse than the music from the front of the stage, Gallagher said.
Just how loud is the music?
The casino contracts with sound engineers to enforce its decibel policy. The plaza has a limit of 95 decibels. To put that in perspective, breathing is 10 decibels, a conversation in a restaurant is 60 decibels, a food blender is 90 decibels and a chainsaw is 110 decibels, according to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry.
Listeners could get ear damage if they listened to 90-decibel noises for about eight hours and could get serious ear damage if they listened to 100-decibel noises for the same amount of time, according to the OMSI.
If a band’s sound engineers go above 95 decibels, Carlson Audio Systems Chief Engineer Allan Bagley said he asks them to turn it down.
During every show, casino Marketing Director Dana Nelson said he drives through Snoqualmie, taking measurements with a decibel reader. Background noise from cars and airplanes registers on the reader, along with noise from the concert.
On top of Indian Hill and later near the Snoqualmie Valley School District office in downtown Snoqualmie July 15, the decibel reader gave a measurement of about 40, some of it from ambient noise.
“We’re definitely not saying you can’t hear it three and a half miles away at Indian Hill,” Gallagher said. “It’s audible. It’s consistent with a radio being put on at its lowest level in a car.”
At those decibel readings, it is unlikely anyone’s hearing would be damaged, though it could be irritating, said University of Washington Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences Professor and Chair Richard Folsom.
“It doesn’t take an expert in hearing to say some sounds are annoying, and if I lived in a house nearby, I would be annoyed if I couldn’t fall asleep at night,” he said.
The casino and the community
The concert noise is not the first time the casino’s neighbors have complained. Some people were uneasy when the casino built its employee parking lot near their houses, Gallagher said. In response, the casino planted trees to shield the houses from the parking lot’s lights and put up a fence to address safety concerns.
Since then, the casino has not heard any complaints from those neighbors, he said.
The evening of July 15, Gallagher said the casino had received three calls asking it to increase the sound during the sound check and one call complaining about the noise.
Since the 2010 outdoor summer concerts began, he said the casino had received noise complaints from 25 people, one anonymous caller and three anonymous e-mailers.
In fact, the publicity from the outdoor concert noise disagreement has increased the casino’s ticket sales by 50 percent, Gallagher said.
After the concert season ends, he said the casino would evaluate the plaza from a business perspective. For example, many concerts were held in the rain in June. Next year, the casino might not schedule concerts in mid-June to avoid potential bad weather, Gallagher said.
KZOK FM radio personality Bob Rivers, who lives in North Bend and has participated in several charity casino shows, said the culture and jobs the casino brought to the Valley were a good tradeoff for any inconveniences that came with it.
“I know these guys are doing everything they can to mitigate the noise,” Rivers said. “I do feel for you if you feel inconvenienced,” but he said Interstate 90 was noisy too, and he didn’t see anyone protesting it.
Craig Bill, director of the state Office of Indian Affairs, said the office would help resolve the issue only if the tribe asked.
“If requested, we’ll try to help get the right people in the room,” Bill said. “We respect the tribe’s sovereignty of the issue and its jurisdiction.”
Although they don’t like the noise from many of the concerts, Sorenson said he and his wife paid $75 apiece for tickets to The Beach Boys at the plaza, but left because it was too loud. He said he wanted to find a peaceful solution with the casino, and soon.
“They’re using us to promote their casino,” he said. “Our views, our mountains. They’re polluting it.”
Laura Geggel: 392-6434, ext. 221, lgeggel@snovalleystar.com.
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the white man lies to his native american snoqualmie tribe- in the name of money we must make more- fatten your pockets and move to the ridge and avoid the noise of the concerts while your fortune increases- do not worry aboout the lands you once inhabitated or the animals that must move to continue their lives- be a proud Snoqualmie Tribe and ruin the land that once so well supported you and thank the government for giving you the greed to create your own nation and ruin the lives of others that live in your old lands- create addiction to gambling and smoking and alcohol . Your ancesters will be proud of you- you have learned of the great white man who once promised you land and fortune and you know the ending to that story- Your white business partners could not operate without your blessing – and you must feel blessed to have touched so many lives. Ron Sorenson