BY DANIEL SCHRAGER
Daily Post Staff Writer
Stanford is bringing live music back to its football stadium and amid concerns that its proposed concerts will be too loud, a Santa Clara County planner ruled today (Nov. 10) that the event can move forward.
Principal Planner Robert Salisbury granted Stanford a permit to host a three-night concert series at the stadium this spring in a public hearing this morning.
The event would take place May 16, 17 and 19 from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., and include fireworks displays each night.
Typically, Stanford is allowed to host two fireworks shows a year and it had to get additional county approval for the third.
Four members of the public wrote to the county’s Zoning Administration committee with concerns about the noise coming from the concerts, according to Associate Planner Parya Seif. Seif told the Post she couldn’t provide the names of the commenters, citing a policy against releasing their “personal information.”
The comments largely focused on Stanford’s plans for a third fireworks show, which one commenter called “disruptive to the surrounding communities.”
“(Stanford) already has permission under the (general use permit) for TWO firework displays, and now they want THREE!” another commenter wrote.
Seif said the county’s Department of Environmental Health worked with Stanford and planned the event with the county’s noise ordinance in mind. The project also received approval from the Palo Alto Planning and Development Department.
The event builds on Stanford’s recent efforts to bring live music to the stadium, which hasn’t traditionally hosted concerts.
Stanford hosted a pair of Coldplay concerts May 31 and June 1, which brought concerns about noise in the neighboring areas, given the stadium’s location along El Camino Real and across from Palo Alto High School. While the concert could be heard from some parts of town, Seif said the county monitored noise levels and they didn’t violate the county noise ordinance at any point.
“The noise level in the surrounding area didn’t change much during the concert as compared to the background noise data obtained prior to the concert,” Seif said.
Seif didn’t say whether that applied to Menlo Park, which is in San Mateo County. Before the Coldplay concerts, Stanford commissioned an assessment that found the music would exceed city-imposed noise limits in parts of Menlo Park.
The Coldplay concerts included real-time noise monitoring, allowing stadium sound system operators to turn down the volume if it exceeded the levels allowed by the county, according to Seif.
The real-time monitoring will return for the upcoming concerts, Seif said.
Salisbury thanked Stanford for its “diligence” in following the noise ordinance.
As a condition for approving the permit, the county said that the concerts and fireworks displays will have to end by 10 o’clock each night.
Stanford will expand the stadium’s capacity to 58,000 from its usual 50,000 for the shows, according to Seif.