The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion At 2005 Lake Robbins Dr.

[pineda]

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Woodlands plans sound study for pavilion

Residents' gripes of concert noise prompt action

By CHARLIE BIER, Houston Chronicle

The sound issue will be discussed at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Community Associations of The Woodlands building.

Residents complaining of loud noise from concerts at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion that seeps into their homes will get a sound study.

Peggy Hausman, who represents the village of Panther Creek, told Woodlands Community Associations officials at a recent meeting that pavilion officials are conducting two studies to gauge sound levels at rock concerts. The first was at the Lynard Skynard concert Oct. 9, the results of which will be combined with another study set for the Oct. 30 BuzzFest.

"The pavilion is doing a noise study at their own cost and they're doing it in a pro-active format for the villages of Grogan's Mill and Panther Creek," Hausman said.

Neighborhood noise

The majority of residents taking issue with concert noise live in Panther Creek and Grogan's Mill, the two villages whose boundaries abut Town Center Improvement District, where the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion is located at 2005 Lake Robbins Drive.

Hausman has asked that the item now be placed on the WCA agenda because concert noise prompts late-night phone calls at show time from disgruntled constituents who say their windows are rattling.

WCA President Bruce Tough said the item will be placed on the WCA agenda for Wednesday.

Panther Creek resident John Nanninga told the WCA board there are times music is loud enough that he "can understand words coming from (the pavilion). That's a bit excessive. I know it's a very important part of our community, but I think there is technology and the ability to limit that noise."

Resident Larry Faith, who lives on South Windsail Place near the western shore of Lake Woodlands, told the WCA board that BuzzFest in May 2003, particularly the segment where rock band Linkin Park played, was loud to the point of distraction.

"We could easily hear them at our house, inside the house. We could hear the music and the drums," Faith said.

Steve Rosene, who lives on nearby Lake Mist Harbour Place, roughly a mile from the pavilion, said he wants the directors to take a close look at the issue.

"My family and I are impacted by at least six concerts a year and the volume of noise is, I believe, excessive at 102 decibels," Rosene said. Pavilion policy mandates concerts end at 11 p.m. and sound levels cannot exceed 102 decibels.

Building partnerships

Hausman said she would also like the WCA board to set up a partnership with the pavilion whereby residents can officially log complaints about concert noise.

"Draft a letter, mail it to the two villages that seem to be having issues with this, a fairly neutral letter saying that in the event that you are having an issue pro or con with the pavilion, please e-mail one address," Hasuman said. Hasuman said the Panther Creek Village Association has offered to pay the postage of letters.

Jerry MacDonald, president and CEO of the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, said the venue has always tried to be be pro-active with a variety of measures and past sound studies. In the past, the outdoors concert venue has periodically done sound studies, shifted speakers, constructed earthen berms, he said.

[MidtownCoog]

What a bunch of fools.

It's like moving next to an airport and griping about the aircraft noise.

Bring the concerts back to Houston. That drive all the way out there is a buzz kill, anyway. Not to mention the bugs, etc. in the Summer.

[ricco67]

The way it's starting to look, it was a major mistake to build the pavillion years ago. Apparently no one had the foresight to realize that an open air venue's music might reach beyond it's property lines when it's located, basically inside a residential area!

Maybe this might be the first sign that the pavillion may eventually be closed in the next few years, especially if they decide to fine the owners and the various acts that perform there.

Perhaps more acts may start to go to the Toyota Center more often instead of having people trek all the way to South Dallas for a concert without having to worry about the weather.

Ricco

[pineda]

They (the CWMP officials) DO fine the performing acts if they go past the curfew time of 11:00 p.m. and the noise really DOES carry a long way away. When we've been at the South Montgomery County library off Gosling Road on a Saturday afternoon, you can hear the bands warming up for the concerts at night, and you can hear the words distinctly, it's not muffled. And, just going to the library and hearing it so well, when it's not that close by, really makes you wonder how it must sound to the residents who do live close by. Especially if you had kids and playing outside, they could hear the words of the songs distinctly spoken, and you would not normally want your kids to be hearing those kinds of songs.

[MidtownCoog]

"My family and I are impacted by at least six concerts a year and the volume of noise is, I believe, excessive at 102 decibels,"

I can hear UH and TSU football games in Midtown. Should I complain to the city? Same thing with Rice in West U.

Waaah, Waaah, Waaah.....

I'm a titty baby.

[pineda]

I figured since you called yourself "Midtown Coog" you'd be AT the games, not listening to the background stadium noise at home....

[MidtownCoog]

Well, I am most of the time. You can also hear the TSU band practice on Thursday, and some crazy stuff from some of the local churces on Saturday nights.

What's next? Maybe I should complaign about the trains near Maxwell House. Or church bells.

Anyway, I bet the Pavillion has been there longer than some of these compaliners.

[pineda]

speaking of trains...

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Voicing concerns / College Park sets meeting to focus onhome project

By BETH KUHLES, Houston Chronicle archives

A special meeting of the College Park Village Association will be held Monday on the issue of a proposed lower-priced neighborhood at the entrance to Harper's Landing.

Virgil Yoakum, vice president of residential land sales and development for The Woodlands Operating Co., will make a presentation and answer residents' concerns about a new neighborhood planned along Trade Center Drive on land formerly designated for light industry. The developer plans 68 single-family homes for the 15-acre site, with prices beginning at $90,000.

Homes in College Park now range from $120,000 to $200,000.

The meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m. at the Needham Road Fire Station, 9430 Texas 242.

"With the contracts let on the project, there may not be anything that we can do with this project," said Ray Penton, president of the College Park Village Association. "What we are really looking for is to try and get so that there is not so much done in secrecy."

Penton said he is hoping for a positive meeting, where Yoakum will address residents' concerns with the project and highlight other developer plans, not only for the College Park area, but the entire community.

In addition to the key issue of the impact on property values, residents also want to address other issues, such as noise , the stability of foundations and the impact on municipal utility district taxes, Penton said.

The new neighborhood is adjacent to Union Pacific railroad tracks, and residents want to ensure that buyers fully are informed about the nightly freight trains that will move through their backyard. Residents fear that once buyers experienced nightly trains, which run through the area at 1 a.m., 3 :15 a.m. and 5:15 a.m., they will abandon their properties.

"The real concern is noise ," Penton said. "They are very, very close to the train tracks."

In addition to noise concerns, residents also will raise safety issues of having a neighborhood located so close to the track. Some residents fear vibration from the heavy trains would crack foundations.

Finally, residents want assurances that the new development would not raise their municipal utility district taxes, since those taxes are based on appraised values.

In another matter, the College Park Village Association has invited a representative from the Conroe Independent School District to address concerns about misrepresentations that Harper's Landing is not part of The Woodlands .

Penton said several residents have complained that children from Sally K. Ride Elementary School have been taunted by their peers that they do not live in The Woodlands .

"It is strictly taunting from kids," said Penton, who said that it is not coming from teachers or administrators. "They've got to be hearing it at home from their parents."

It is part of an ongoing issue with College Park, since it is the only residential neighborhood in The Woodlands located on the east of Interstate 45.

[editor]

Here's a solution: Build a concert hall downtown so all those big concerts can be held in 77002 where they belong.

[pineda]

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HoustonChronicle.com -- http://www.HoustonChronicle.com | Section: So. Montgomery Co. News

The Woodlands plans a survey on concert noise

Group seeks residents' input on pavilion sounds

By CHARLIE BIER, Houston Chronicle

Residents who complain that concert music from the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion disturbs them in the comfort of their homes will now be able to log concerns via e-mailed responses to a survey.

The Woodlands Community Association voted recently to receive and compile postal service-delivered letter responses from about 300 residents at one centralized e-mail location. The results will be sent to the two village associations serving the neighborhoods from which the bulk of the complaints have sprung.

RESOURCES

WHAT'S THAT SOUND?

The following is a comparison of decibel levels and their originating sources heard in daily life:

[wxman]

I made a post under the hurricane section about why the damage in The Woodlands is really bad vs. other areas of Houston. If you didn't see it, it's simply because the storm was still strengthening as it moved inland over Houston. It is estimated that between downtown and Conroe, winds were sustained at 80-85 mph with gusts to 95 and above...just thought you might be interested...

In saying the above, it should be no surprise the the pavilion sustained some pretty good damage during the storm...

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nb/woo...ws/6017497.html

[CHiPs]

I made a post under the hurricane section about why the damage in The Woodlands is really bad vs. other areas of Houston. If you didn't see it, it's simply because the storm was still strengthening as it moved inland over Houston. It is estimated that between downtown and Conroe, winds were sustained at 80-85 mph with gusts to 95 and above...just thought you might be interested...

In saying the above, it should be no surprise the the pavilion sustained some pretty good damage during the storm...

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nb/woo...ws/6017497.html

I got tickets to BuzzFest (seats are under the canopy). Hope it doesn't get cancelled.

[RedScare]

Wxman, do you have any evidence to support your statement that the storm strengthened as it moved inland? While it was still a strong storm as it moved into Montgomery County, I have seen nothing that suggested it grew stronger. I would be interested in seeing that information.

Thanks.

[Trae]

Maybe a tornado happened or something, because I highly doubt it strengthened inland.

[wxman]

Wxman, do you have any evidence to support your statement that the storm strengthened as it moved inland? While it was still a strong storm as it moved into Montgomery County, I have seen nothing that suggested it grew stronger. I would be interested in seeing that information.

Thanks.

Sure thing. Ask and you shall receive. Though it goes against what you are taught in school, there are cases, plural, where hurricanes have strengthened over land. Katrina, Andrew, and Ike are a few right off the top of my head.

Here's the first evidence. This is microwave imagery showing the storm moving inland over Houston. Notice the yellows and oranges in the northwest quadrant becoming much more pronounced as the eye passed just east of Downtown Houston.

http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/tropic/real-tim...sBy12hr_26.html

Now take the above link and compare it with this one. You can clearly see that the highest sustained winds, according to the Hurricane Research Division) were indeed highest over inland areas and areas east of the eye.

http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/Storm_pages/T...L092008_mph.pdf

Unlike most hurricanes, such as Rita, that were weakening as they moved inland, this storm was strengthening. The cloud pattern became much better defined. The outflow took on a much more defined banding feature. Deep convection, indicated by the coldest cloudtops (or bright reds on the infrared sat pic as you'd know it by) had wrapped completely around the center just prior to landfall. Not to mention that the pressure at landfall was 952mb (10 mb lower than Alicia which was a 3). Over downtown, the pressure remained at 952 mb, this according to the hurricane center. So if Ike had a lower pressure than Category 3 Alicia, why did Ike come in as a weak 2? Easy...Ike was HUGE! Almost three times the size of Alicia. That means that the pressure gradient wasn't nearly as steep in Ike as it was with Alicia. The pressure difference between the eye of Ike and the outer bands were not nearly as vertical. Unlike Alicia, which had a much steeper gradient because the storm was rather small and the pressure of 962 mb to the average sea level pressure of 1013 mb took place over a much shorter distance. An iceskater who brings his arms in will spin much faster than with his arms extended. Same idea. I could write a book, but I really don't have the time. If you have questions, ask.

[RedScare]

I don't see what you see. I see the storm being slow to weaken, likely due to its extreme size, but I definitely do not see stronger winds in Montgomery County than at landfall. This is not to suggest that MontCo did not take a severe hit, especially with the pine tree stock prevalent in the county, only that those graphs do not show the winds increasing.

Thanks for the links, though.

[wxman]

I don't see what you see. I see the storm being slow to weaken, likely due to its extreme size, but I definitely do not see stronger winds in Montgomery County than at landfall. This is not to suggest that MontCo did not take a severe hit, especially with the pine tree stock prevalent in the county, only that those graphs do not show the winds increasing.

Thanks for the links, though.

Redscare, the second link I provided clearly shows an orange dot over northern harris and southern montgomery counties. That is indicative of 84 mph winds sustained. The winds in Galveston Co. were actually slower...at least according to that graphic. If you look at the first link, you don't see a more pronounced eyewall over the inland areas? I do. I guess it's a meteorological eye vs. a non one. No offense to you. Here's another link...

http://myweb.cableone.net/nolasue/IkeWinds.gif

[editor]

Dennis Spellman over at 39 News (KIAH) did a story tonight about the reopening of the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion after Ike.

[lockmat]

That's pretty amazing they got it done so fast.

[woody_hawkeye]

That's pretty amazing they got it done so fast.

The design is much improved over the last one. Let's see how it works out in a live concert! Even the sound system is replaced. Should be less seepage of noise into the community.

[bachanon]

Cynthia Woods Mitchell, patron of the arts, dies at 87

By ALLAN TURNER Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle

Dec. 27, 2009, 1:52PM

Cynthia Woods Mitchell served as a board member of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the World Wildlife Fund and was a benefactor of the Houston Symphony, Houston Grand Opera and Houston Ballet.

Cynthia Woods Mitchell, patron of the arts, impassioned environmentalist and avid historical preservationist, died this morning surrounded by family at her home in the Woodlands. She was 87.

Reared by a single mother in Depression-era New York City, Mitchell embraced a wide range of causes and interests, from the Boy and Girl Scouts to Trinity Episcopal Church and Texas Children's Hospital.

Survivors include her husband, oilman-real estate developer George Mitchell, and 10 children.

“She was a force of nature,” the Mitchell family said in a prepared statement. “Our family will always remember the dynamic, colorful person that she was: intelligent, altruistic, totally original and hilariously funny. Her kindnesses are remembered by people she barely knew.”

chronicle story

my thoughts and prayers are with the mitchell family.