Noise levels coming from the new Ford Amphitheater during its opening weekend did not exceed city-imposed limits, a city investigation found.

Colorado Springs monitored decibel levels at the 8,000-seat open-air venue southwest of Voyager Parkway and North Gate Boulevard from Aug. 9-11, when pop band OneRepublic performed for three nights in a row. Though the city fielded hundreds of complaints about noise coming from the venue throughout its opening weekend, officials determined noise levels adhered to limits required in the facility’s approved development plan, city spokesman Max D’Onofrio said in an email.

Decibel levels recorded by developer VENU and provided to the city are comparable to the data Colorado Springs officials recorded during their investigation, he said.

“The city’s data, which was collected independent of VENU, validates both our consistency and compliance. We will continue to be transparent and adhere to our commitments to the city while working to be good neighbors,” VENU spokeswoman Chloe Hoeft said in a written statement.

Noise levels the city collected during those three days — inside the venue and in outlying commercial and residential areas about 1 to 3 miles away — did not exceed 116.8 decibels, city data show.

That highest noise level was measured inside the Ford Amphitheater at 9:52 p.m. on Aug. 9.

A jackhammer typically registers around 110 decibels. Normal conversation registers between 60-70 decibels and city traffic is about 85 decibels.

VENU officials obtained a noise hardship permit that allows the amphitheater to exceed city noise limits of 50 decibels in residential areas between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m., but they say noise levels measured inside the facility haven’t exceeded limits spelled out in the project’s development plan.

Noise measurements outside the amphitheater have been no different than the immediate area’s ambient noise from cars, trucks and motorcycles, VENU officials said in recent weeks.

The amphitheater’s development plan includes two city-imposed requirements.

Noise measurements are not to exceed 110 decibels more than once during any five-minute period.

Also, when the sound is adjusted for how humans hear lower frequencies, noise levels are not to exceed 125 decibels more than once during any five-minute period.

The Aug. 9 reading of 116.8 decibels was taken when technicians applied adjustments emphasizing lower frequencies, D’Onofrio said.

Officials measured the next highest sound level of 109.1 decibels, also inside the venue, on Aug. 10 at 9:56 p.m., city data show.

In city measurements outside the Ford Amphitheater, sound levels reached no higher than 78 decibels over the opening weekend.

Sound levels measured by the city around 8:15 p.m. on Aug. 10 from the front driveway of a home on Rockbridge Circle, about 1½ miles from the facility, ranged between 50 decibels and 78 decibels over a three-minute period, data show.

The City Council overwhelmingly approved construction of the amphitheater in January 2023. As a condition of approval, the city required VENU to implement noise mitigation measures, like installing a noise wall to serve as a sound barrier on the east side of seating areas.

Developers also installed noise-detection devices at two locations outside but near the amphitheater — at Spectrum Loop and Voyager Parkway, and near Bass Pro Drive and North Gate Boulevard — to measure sound levels.

Developers are required, by the end of each year, to compile an annual report for the city that includes the dates and times of past events, a summary of monitored noise levels and any complaints received from the city or neighbors. The report should discuss any further methods developers implemented to reduce noise levels emanating from the venue.

About 30 neighbors living up to 3 miles away from the amphitheater descended upon City Council chambers on Aug. 27, speaking for hours about how excessive sound levels emanating from the venue have interrupted their daily lives.

Many said they could not only hear the music from their houses, but they too could feel it pumping under their feet.

Some council members then implored developers to take residents’ comments into consideration and implement additional measures to mitigate noise.

After meeting with Mayor Yemi Mobolade and Council President Randy Helms on Aug. 28, VENU founder, chairman and CEO JW Roth and the company’s President and Chief Operating Officer, Bob Mudd, agreed to explore other sound mitigation measures.

A lawsuit brought by a local resident and a homeowners’ group that alleged the amphitheater would violate the state’s Noise Pollution Law was dismissed in 4th Judicial District Court, though an appeal with the state Court of Appeals is ongoing. Opening arguments in the appeal case happened Tuesday.