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Soccer Stadium Proposal Faces Noise Concerns

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By MIKE SALINERO

msalinero@tampatrib.com

Published: December 7, 2008

Updated: 12/07/2008 04:28 am

TAMPA - The prospect of loud concerts being held at a proposed soccer stadium in Town 'N County has mobilized neighborhood opposition to the project and brought warnings from Hillsborough County officials.

Developers of the stadium near Waters Avenue and the Veterans Expressway say their primary interest is fielding a professional soccer team, but they concede concerts and other nonsports programs will be booked to help pay for the $20 million stadium.

That worries residents who live near the site and remember a years-long battle to control noise from concerts at the Ford Amphitheatre. County officials who have studied the project are also concerned about noise and the availability of parking.

Lawyers for the developers are scheduled to appear before the Hillsborough County Commission on Tuesday to request a rezoning they want for the stadium and 20,000 square feet of retail space.

Aware of the noise concerns, County Commissioner Jim Norman said he doesn't want a replay of the amphitheater battle.

"I don't want to prejudge; I want to see the distances," Norman said. "I've had enough heartburn with concerts after having gone through the fairgrounds and amphitheater stuff."

The 5,000-seat stadium will be home to a new United Soccer Leagues First Division team called the Rowdies. The team takes its name from the North American Soccer League Team that played in Tampa in the 1970s. Players will wear the former team's green and yellow colors when they begin play in 2010.

The team's five-member ownership group, which includes Bern's Steak House president David Laxer, plans to eventually expand the stadium to 10,000 seats as the Rowdies gain in popularity.

The team will play 15 home games, so the owners want to fill the stadium on other nights with concerts and other non-sports events. Team spokeswoman Lisa Brock said the owners are aware of concerns about noise and plan to book "appropriate concerts" that don't bother neighbors or violate noise laws.

"We're trying to build a stadium," Brock said, "and if we build it, we will comply with the rules having to do with noise."

In an effort to defuse the issue, the owners have agreed to end concerts and other non-sports events by 11 p.m. But that may not be enough to avoid violating the county noise ordinance, said Jerry Maxwell, director of air quality for the county Environmental Protection Commission.

"If they have amplified music before 11, based on our experience with venues of this size ... there's a very good chance there will be noise violations if we get complaints from citizens," Maxwell said.

County officials used the noise law to make Clear Channel Entertainment build a sound wall and take other measures to contain noise at the amphitheater on the Florida State Fairgrounds. But it took two years and $500,000 in legal fees before the noise was abated and neighborhood complaints stopped.

Residents of Twelve Oaks are not buying the owners' reassurances that noise from the stadium won't reach their homes. They say they are already bothered by music from a Green Iguana bar and restaurant on Anderson Road, closer to the neighborhood than the stadium site.

"We should have learned from the Ford Amphitheatre," said Ben Reynolds, a Twelve Oaks resident for 24 years. "You're going to have complaints, so why put this in an area where it's impinging on such a big neighborhood."

The residents also fear stadium traffic will jam already crowded thoroughfares and increase the number of motorists who cut through their neighborhood on Barry Road.

Vin Marchetti, attorney for the owners, dismissed the argument that drivers will try to avoid stadium traffic by cutting through Twelve Oaks. The neighborhood is on the other side of Veterans Expressway from the stadium site.

"I don't know anybody who's going to go out of their way to cut through a neighborhood that's in a different area than the stadium," Marchetti said.

Reporter Mike Salinero can be reached at (813) 259-8303

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