Want to stop complaints about noise from downtown festivals? A simple suggestion.

Mr. Garcia's configuration to date has been to have the
bandstand along Somerset Street, facing eastwards.
The purple lines show how this becomes a 'megaphone'.

Edison Garcia, the owner of Los Faraone's nightclub, is hosting a festival this weekend (Sunday is the last day) in celebration of Latin American independence.

Though he has done it for ten years now, it is not quite annual -- and this is the second time for this year.

Suffice it to say, though, that these are familiar events -- with familiar complaints. Most notably about noise.

There was quite a stink and a lengthy Council discussion a couple of years ago, resulting in limiting the hours and volume of the music for these events.

I have often pondered those complaints and the lack of them when it comes to concerts in Cedar Brook Park (and today, at Milt Campbell Field).

Today, thinking about those other concerts and this event, the REAL problem -- and a solution -- suddenly dawned on me.

Driving up Somerset Street from Route 22, I noticed when passing the venue that the stage had no backing this time and was completely open to Somerset Street, though the performers faced into Lot 8A.

Then it hit me: The Teppers building in the back and the backs of buildings on either side of Lot 8A turned the space into a giant megaphone, projecting the music eastward as far as Leland Avenue (from which there were previous complaints).

I am no sound engineer (though I play one on this blog), but it seems to me the simple solution to this is to relocate the spot from which sound is generated.

Here are two simple suggestions --

Suggestion A: Move the bandstand to the rear of
Los Faraone's, avoiding east-facing sound.

Suggestion A is to relocate the bandstand to the rear wall of Los Faraone's nightclub. This would have the advantage of only projecting the sound against a one-story building. It would also leave the Lot 8A area for attendees the same, with the added benefit of easy pedestrian access from Somerset Street.

Suggestion B: Moving the bandstand into Lot 8 might
reduce sound complaints the most.

Suggestion B is to relocate the bandstand to the rear of the window company next to the Green Brook in Lot 8. This would leave the sound pointing to a broken multi-story structure much farther away than in Lot 8A. In addition, the reflected sound would be baffled by the lush trees along the brook.

Either of these placements would allow for an ample audience to enjoy the performances up close (in example A, in the exact same space) and at the same time reduce the spread of the noise eastward toward the residential areas of the First Ward.

All that would have to be done is for the Police Department to make that a condition of their approval of any permit.

This weekend's festival seems to be doing marginally better attendance-wise than the one in July (I'm sure that's a relief to Mr. Garcia), but the Plainfield police could be more attentive to the details.

I went by after dark, and there were two prowl cars with lights flashing parked on Somerset Street behind the bandstand, with officers stationed by the cars and watching the crowd.

On the Watchung Avenue side, all the street lights in the area were non-functional, leaving it pitch black. Since most attendees park in the lot behind Punto Peruano restaurant, those with small children were left to try and navigate crossing Watchung in the dark. A police van was parked athwart the driveway but there was not an officer in sight to guide pedestrians across the busy street. We can do better.

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  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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