Outdoor shows at the proposed Vesper Amphitheater would generally have to end by 11 p.m. Up to 10 outdoor events a year could run until midnight under the draft limits. Provo planning staff laid out those proposed limits at a Nov. 10 neighborhood meeting on the revised plans for the gravel pit at the mouth of Provo Canyon. The meeting was informational; the limits are still in draft form.
The stage is still designed for crowds of up to 20,000 in the open air and about 8,000 in an enclosed winter hall. The bigger change is where the operating rules would live. The first application sought a shopping center zone. The revised proposal calls for a new entertainment zone with concert end times and sound limits written into the zoning rules. Off-site parking and shuttle details would go into a separate development agreement, according to the city’s side-by-side briefing.
That split gives residents two documents to watch. For the last possible encore, look to the zoning text. For commitments on how people get to and from the show, look to the agreement. The city’s explanation of the process says that once a development agreement is recorded, it also binds later owners. Moving the concert limits into zoning puts them in the rules for the site itself.
The draft calls for a limit of 105 dBA under a sound plan, measured at the front-of-house position, where the show is mixed. That figure describes a measurement inside the venue. There is still no separate bass limit in the drafts, and staff have asked for one measured at nearby homes, the briefing says.
The developers withdrew the first proposal in early September and submitted a new one in October, according to the city’s project update. Staff told neighbors that Dec. 9 was a possible Planning Commission date and that it could slip to January. The commission would hold a public hearing and make a recommendation; the City Council would hold its own hearing and decide. Any sale of city land would require a separate decision. Residents can check the Planning Commission agenda page for a hearing notice.