A scheduled outdoor concert has been moved indoors at High Beam Dreams in Gibsons.
The move came after neighbours complained about noise from a July 11 event, which led the town to take bylaw enforcement action.
Gibsons’ director of planning, Lesley Anne Staats, told Coast Reporter that the venue at 350 Glassford Rd. did not have permission to play amplified music outdoors on July 11, nor do they have permission to do so in the future.
“Our investigation continues and the owner of the property has been notified that under the Town’s bylaws (Zoning and Anti-Noise), outdoor amplified music is not permitted,” Staats wrote in a July 26 email.
A Rogue Arts Festival concert at the venue is sold out for July 31. Arwen MacDonald, artistic and administrative director of the festival, confirmed in an email that “the performances by Joel Fafard and Kentucky Eileen were originally scheduled to be held outdoors, but the music for the event has now been moved inside the venue.”
Staats said the bylaw complaint file related to High Beam Dreams remains active and that residents adversely affected by future events at the site should contact the town. Future violations related to noise will be met with a notice under the anti-noise bylaw. In addition, Staats also wrote “any parking infractions at the site will also be subject to bylaw notices, depending on the availability of Town staff to monitor the situation.”
High Beam Dreams’ site is zoned to host concerts but use of a property to generate discernable vibration or noise is prohibited under Gibsons’ zoning bylaw. The town’s anti-noise bylaw also outlaws the amplification of sound that disturbs the peace and quiet enjoyment of neighbouring properties.
One resident who filed a complaint was Paddy McCallum, who lives about 30 metres away from the venue.
McCallum said he had planned a pleasant afternoon with visitors to his home on July 11. That was interrupted, he said, by over six hours of noise coming from an outdoor event at the neighbouring property.
McCallum said the disruption started about noon, with vehicles arriving at the venue and musicians tuning up. That was followed by the amplified bass sounds from two concerts by local group Definitely Diva. His afternoon ended with noise from vehicle departures and the packing up of chairs and concert equipment.
McCallum, who has lived on his property for over 30 years, said he has attended and enjoyed indoor events at High Beam Dreams, which was established on the site of a former United Church in 2017. But property owners in the area were never informed, he said, that the business would be hosting outdoor events with amplified sound.
Even if notification to neighbours is provided before future outdoor events, he cannot see himself providing “carte blanche” support to events that do not comply with town bylaws.
“This was just a quiet little neighbourhood and none of us anticipated having a performance venue right in the middle of it,” said McCallum. He said the business impacts about a half dozen houses that “literally circle” the High Beam Dreams property.
“I don’t know of another example on the Coast of a performance venue being plunked inside a residential area,” said McCallum.
According to McCallum, the former church on the site held most of its activities indoors and those activities occurred at predictable times. He said while a church is a “community use,” a for-profit event location has a very different impact on a neighbourhood.
High Beam Dreams owner and operator Vineet Miglani declined to comment on the situation.
