The Climate and Infrastructure Committee on June 26 approved an amendment to the noise provisions that will allow amplified sound from the planned Community Performing Arts Center (CPAC) at the Upper Harbor Terminal site for up to 54 commercial events per calendar year.

Kelly Mullman, director of Environmental Programs in the Minneapolis Health Department, said the CPAC is an outdoor performance venue planned for the city-owned Upper Harbor Terminal site and estimated to have an "8 to 10,000 person capacity amphitheater." "The CPAC will be developed, constructed, and operated by the Port of Minneapolis LLC, a partnership between First Avenue Productions and the Minnesota Orchestra Association," Mullman said. She said the proposed amendment to the Minneapolis Code of Ordinances, Title 15, Chapter 389 (noise), would allow amplified sound for 54 commercial events in a calendar year, measured at 134 feet from the source not to exceed 98 decibels, and would retain the existing allowable hours for amplified sound between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m.

Mullman described an annual process in which the city and the Port of Minneapolis will meet to review the event calendar and the Port will submit an amplified sound permit application for the year's events; upon approval, the city will issue amplified sound permits for the 54 commercial events. There were no public speakers on the item. Committee chair Emily Koski moved approval and the motion carried by voice vote.

The Health Department presentation identified the Port of Minneapolis LLC partnership between First Avenue Productions and the Minnesota Orchestra Association as the planned developer and operator. The amendment changes the city's noise ordinance to create a permit pathway for the CPAC's amplified-sound events; the committee took no additional conditions at the hearing.