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Pickens County commissioners table concert-series request after neighborhood noise concerns
Summary
A conditional-use request to allow fall and spring concert series at a 20-acre event venue owned by Karen Smith was tabled after neighbors raised complaints about loud music and traffic; staff will research decibel standards and enforcement options for future consideration.
The Pickens County Planning Commission on [date not specified] tabled a conditional-use request from Karen Smith to add a fall and spring concert series to an existing small-event venue at 834 Wounded Crossroads.
Staff described the request as an addition to previously approved activities (cooking classes, yoga, farm tours and a Jeep Fest) and recommended adding a concert series limited to three concerts per season with music ending by 10 p.m. Applicant Karen Smith said the events are ticketed and professionally managed: "We are so excited to bring families together with great music," she told the commission, describing the events as ticketed through Eventbrite and handled by an outside event planner to address parking and security.
Multiple nearby residents testified that sound from previous concerts has carried to their homes. John Wilson Hurd told the commission: "the noise that's coming off of her venue is very loud in the evenings," and asked the commission to adopt a 50-decibel limit at the property line. Event planner David Yates (Expedition Events) said the team is considering moving events earlier (from 6–10 p.m. to 5–9 p.m.) to reduce after-dark impacts and noted most acts were acoustic.
County legal counsel and planning staff told the commission Pickens County currently lacks a specific decibel ordinance. Staff offered to research noise standards and enforcement practices used by nearby jurisdictions and to present options for the commission. Commissioners voted to table the conditional-use request and asked staff to return information on feasible decibel limits and enforcement approaches before making a final recommendation to the Board of Commissioners.
Next steps: Staff will compile examples from neighboring jurisdictions and return with options the commission can include in a recommendation; the Board of Commissioners may act on the planning commission's recommendation or take other action within the statutory period.
