Resident urges district to limit stadium sound after noise grows ‘intolerable’

Keene Turner, a Rock Avenue resident who said he lives behind Terry Sanford High School, told the Cumberland County Board of Education the stadium’s sound system has become “almost intolerable” and urged the district to moderate audio levels and coordinate operators for rentals and events.

Turner told the board during public forum that the problem developed late last school year and has worsened. “It’s almost intolerable now when you're sitting in your own house,” he said. He added that “we had someone with a new baby move out of their house because it's it's that obnoxious,” and asked the district to speak with principals and the audio-visual staff about adding a governor or otherwise moderating bass levels.

Turner said different operators—football, soccer and third-party renters—use the system differently and that inconsistent operation contributes to the problem. He asked the board to remind operators that the field is in a neighborhood and to communicate limits to renters.

Board rules for public comment were read before Turner spoke (speakers limited to three minutes), and the board did not respond during the forum. The complaint was recorded under the public forum portion of the meeting; no formal board action or motion on the issue was made during the session.