SAN DIEGO — East Village residents are sounding off about crowded concerts at Gallagher Square that they say have become so loud that they are "devastating" their lives.
They're demanding that the city, which owns Gallagher Square just outside of Petco Park, and the Padres, which manages the park, take steps immediately to 'turn the volume down'.
Gallagher Square is about to undergo a $20 million renovation, and the Padres have indicated that there will be changes made to address these concerns.
'No escape'
East Village residents are fed up though, and demanding those changes be made now, so that the city-owned park follows the noise regulations established by the city.
"There is no escape!," said East Village resident David Bergsma, who lives just north of Petco Park and Gallagher Square, which more and more frequently is hosting concert events attracting thousands of spectators and infuriating many nearby residents.
"Eight to ten hour concerts where you can't watch TV, you can't talk on the phone, you can't read a book, you can't sleep, your animals are affected...it's devastating!," Bergsma told CBS 8.
A big baseball fan, Bergsma said he chose to move here in 2019 because of its location.
"On game day there's an electricity... it's fun to be down here," he added.
He emphasized that he's had no problem with the noise generated by games or even concerts inside the stadium, where the sound is directed south, away from the residential neighborhood.
"That's kind of what I signed up for," Bergsma said.
What he didn't sign up for though, Bergsma said, are the concerts held just outside of Petco Park, which started up a couple weeks after he moved in.
"I hadn't even put the blinds in yet and I was awakened to my walls rattling, shaking," he added. "You know, I've had artwork fall off my walls, I can't sleep."
The Gallagher Square concert noise has become so intense, Bergsma said it's impossible for residents -- and their pets -- to function normally.
"It has just become a nightmare," he said.
He even used a sound level meter app during one concert from his ninth-floor balcony facing Gallagher Square.
"117 decibels.... which is similar to a freight train," he added.
"That noise is going directly out of the park into all of the communities that live here," sad Joseph Sims, who also lives near Gallagher Square.
Like Bergsma, he has no issue with noise within Petco Park. However, the concerts at Gallagher Square are another story.
"When you sit inside your condominium unit and you have the doors closed and the windows closed and you either have to blast your own TV or put the noise-canceling headsets on, it is pretty bad!," he told CBS 8.
Residents commission noise study
Sims, who's lived in East Village for over 20 years, is part of the grassroots group called "Residents Concerned About Noise from Gallagher Square" which commissioned its own study on noise levels during one evening concert.
"Over a block away -- inside units -- it was 80 decibels," Sims said.
For comparison, that's about as loud as a garbage disposal, according to San Diego County. Far exceeding the city's noise ordinance limit of 65 decibels from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., dropping to 55 outside that time frame.
Sims also pointed to the environmental impact report (EIR) for Petco Park, dating back to 1999, but still in effect today. It indicates that noise levels for concerts inside Petco Park should not exceed 95 decibels, and did not measure levels from the outside park.
"The EIR is based on a stadium concert event: a stage facing south with noise going in to the stadium," Sims said.
A noise contour map from the report shows that noise levels coming from within the stadium should carry outside of the ballpark at 60 decibels, decreasing to about 52 a few blocks away.
In fact, the firm which carried out the original EIR said it had anticipated "family-type concerts" in the park space outside Petco, along the lines of a 'mariachi band' or 'dance troupe'.
Residents said that that is not their experience with many of these concerts.
"The noise is so unbearable, so loud, so devastating," Bergsma said.
Padres, City of San Diego responds
For its part, the Padres said that they are "in full compliance with noise regulations during ballgames and concerts at Gallagher Square" and that the upcoming renovation of the park "will provide a host of improvements that fans, concert attendees and neighbors will enjoy and appreciate."
They added that "we are operating a live sports and entertainment venue that generates noise. Those who choose to rent or purchase in buildings adjacent to the ballpark are aware of that fact."
Sims said this is strictly about the noise from this city-owned park, not the ballpark itself, and that residents should not have to wait for future renovations for a fix.
The Padres have earlier said that, as part of the upcoming $20 million renovation of Gallagher Square, a surround-sound system would be added that would decrease the level of noise directed into the neighborhood.
"If the Padres have a solution for reducing the noise level that's going into the neighborhood from a city park, then they should address that now," Sims countered.
CBS 8 also reached out to the City of San Diego. In a statement, they said,
"We are aware of the surrounding community's concerns relating to concert noise, lighting and public access to the park. These concerns are not related to the proposed renovation plans; these are operational issues that are related to the current site as it exists today. The city is continuing to analyze the concerns raised by the residents and will be working closely with the Padres to address any compliance issues that may arise."
WATCH RELATED: Padres Gallagher Square to get $20M makeover (June 2023).