The change would accommodate higher sound levels to be generated from indoor concerts at Scotia Place until midnight, rather than 10 p.m.
The venue still has to be built, but Calgary councillors are already starting to consider how Scotia Place’s noise levels will affect residents in nearby Victoria Park and the future Culture and Entertainment District.
Wednesday’s community development committee meeting included a staff recommendation to amend the city’s community standards bylaw to accommodate higher sound levels that will occasionally be generated from indoor concerts at the future event centre, which is slated to open in the fall of 2027.
After an hour’s debate and discussion, the committee voted 6-1 to accept staff’s proposed changes, with Ward 5 Coun. Raj Dhaliwal the only member to vote in opposition.
The proposed amendments would allow for live music to reach up to 64 decibels at the point of reception (specifically, the residences nearest to Scotia Place) until midnight.
Currently, the city’s bylaw allows for a maximum of 64 decibels at the point of reception during the day, but only 50 decibels after 10 p.m. — though the Calgary Stampede is exempt from this rule during the yearly 10-day festival.
Greg Pastirik, a business strategist with the city’s policy and bylaw development team, told the committee that Scotia Place would not achieve its full potential as a music venue if it had to comply with the current rules.
The city anticipates Scotia Place to host 55 concerts a year, Pastirik said, with anywhere from five to 10 of those likely to exceed 50 decibels.
The Saddledome, in comparison, hosts about 35 concerts a year.
“Hosting more concerts at the event centre aligns with the goal of having the Culture and Entertainment District being a vibrant and high-energy neighbourhood, where something is always going on,” Pastirik said.
He said residents who live closest to Scotia Place would experience concert sound about as loud as being in a busy restaurant, if they were standing on their balcony.
“It’s worth noting, most large-scale touring productions wrap up closer to 11 p.m. to allow for teardown and travel,” he said.
Victoria Park resident speaks out
One member of the public came to the committee meeting to criticize the city’s lack of consultation regarding the proposed changes.
Serene Yew, the president of the condo board for Arivva Tower — a 164-unit highrise in Victoria Park — said she only found out about the city’s plans to amend its noise regulations last week.
Considering the community development committee was the only opportunity to voice her opinion publicly, Yew said she felt compelled to attend Wednesday’s meeting.
“It feels like we’ve had many conversations about the characters of communities in the suburbs, while downtown families are generally expected to tolerate anything thrown at us,” she told the committee.
While she’s not necessarily against the rule change, Yew said area residents deserve the opportunity and time to ask questions of how it will affect them.
“Without time to (engage) the people most affected by this bylaw change, we cannot know what permanent changes are about to be forced upon us,” she said.
Sound-proofing would cost $7-8 million: city
City officials also discussed how much money would be saved as a result of tweaking the municipality’s noise regulations, rather than designing the facility to better insulate sound.
During the committee’s discussion, James McLaughlin, the manager of project delivery for the event centre, said the city would need to spend millions more to build a roof with a better noise buffer.
“In terms of complying with the existing bylaws in place, it’s about a $7 million to $8 million unbudgeted line item . . . (that) wasn’t identified when the project was developed,” he said.
The city can’t authorize the design team to prepare something for construction that doesn’t comply with existing bylaws, codes and ordinances, McLaughlin added, which is why the amendment was brought to committee on such short notice.
“It would be a material impact to the overall project delivery on the approved scope if we had to pull that funding from the approved scope,” he said.
The committee’s chair, Ward 8 Coun. Courtney Walcott, said he doesn’t think an additional $7 million to better soundproof Scotia Place would be worth it.
“It’s a lot of concrete to buffer what will sound like a pretty noisy refrigerator — that is essentially the impact it will have for the buildings across the street from it,” he said.
“Do I think $7-8 million is a good ROI for some noise buffering? My answer is honestly no.”
‘Not acceptable to me’: Dhaliwal
Dhaliwal told reporters he didn’t like the lack of engagement with area residents before presenting to committee.
“This is not an excuse that, ‘Oh, we need to meet deadlines for the permitting, development permits, or whatever,’” Dhaliwal said.
“To just bring it at the 11th hour without engaging the residents is not acceptable.”
Dhaliwal also made a remark during the meeting about “doing this to placate a bunch of millionaires.”
Council will consider the same report at its meeting next Tuesday.