Final Shot Or Opening Salvo In Moraga's Battle Against Noise?

Moraga's Town Council Wednesday rescinded wording giving the town unrestricted protection from its own noise ordinance, but left the door open for re-adopting the measure again in future.

Wednesday's council vote should have ended a six-year legal battle over the effects of amplified music from the popular . But judging from comments made by town staff and a Moraga man in the audience Wednesday, the issue appears far from settled.

Council moved to rescind its position after a decision found in favor of a Moraga woman who sued the town in 2006 for not taking adequate steps to protect her neighborhood from the buffeting effects of noise from the concerts at Commons Park, citing lack of a thorough environmental review.

The appellate court ruled that in exempting itself from otherwise applicable noise policies the Town created "a reasonable potential of causing residents in the area to be exposed to noise levels sufficiently high to interfere with their normal and outdoor activities."

Despite that admonition, town staff indicated Wednesday that it may re-introduce its self-protective policies again in future, to the dismay of one audience member.

"I found it despicable that the town did this in the first place," Moragan Gary Glassel told the council during public comment. "It was a slap in the face to the people of Moraga..."

Town Counsel Michelle Kenyon told council members they could readopt the exemptions after completing a thorough environmental review of noise levels at the summer concert series - which some neighbors said were undiminished despite the town's reported mitigative efforts.

Glassel invited the council and town staff to Kingsford on concert nights to hear the noise for themselves.

"It's unbearable," he said.

Despite that assessment, Parks and Recreation Director Jay Ingram Moraga Park Foundation board member Karen Reed told the council they are constantly making adjustments to sound levels at the concerts in an effort to be "good neighbors."

Glassel, however, could not be moved.

"The sound is as bad or worse than it even was two years ago," on concert nights, now over for the summer, he said.

A number of local residents, the author of this article among them, have expressed concerns over the town's policies regarding extended play amplified noise within town limits over the years.

These concerns have been heightened by the recent approval, over the objection of the author and others, of a " .