A Toronto advocacy group is calling for something to be done about the noise coming from Rogers Stadium during concerts, which disrupts people living in the vicinity. 

The open-air venue opened earlier this summer at the former Downsview Airport lands, with many Torontonians excited about the city having a new venue for concerts. Throughout the summer, the stadium has hosted major acts like Coldplay, Chris Brown, and Oasis. 

But not all shows have delivered the experience fans were expecting. Concert attendees have shared frustrations around issues like crowd control and how far the venue is from the city’s centre. In fact, during a July concert, Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin called the new venue a “weird stadium in the middle of nowhere.”

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Now that the venue has quite a few shows under its belt, some people have taken to social media to do what Torontonians do best – share their opinion. 

Some people who live a distance away from the venue claim they can hear the shows. 

“I can hear the bass from Oakwood and St Clair !! Concerts are way too loud if I’m hearing them all the way down here!” A Facebook user shared.

“I’m near Yonge and EGLINTON and I can juuust make out the songs. I hear Veld every year, but this is going to get old,” another person commented.

While others are questioning the planning that went into building a venue with an open-air design in a residential area.

“How come they did not figure out during the permit process that an open-air temporary structure would emit lots of sounds into the neighbourhood when a rock music band organizes a concert in that structure?” a resident asked on Reddit. 

“Live Nation would have gotten it right had they bothered to listen to community concerns and suggestions,” A Facebook user shared. “I want the stadium to succeed, but, more importantly, I want my community to thrive and benefit from this.”

Toronto City Councillor James Pasternak, who represents the York-Centre riding where Rogers Stadium is located, has even voiced his concerns about the situation. 

“We remain very concerned about the sound levels,” Pasternak told CTV News.

“These concerts can be heard miles away, and we feel the venue operator can turn down the volume significantly and still offer a strong concert experience. Something must be done.”

In July, Pasternak shared a statement on social media addressing concerns about the impact the venue was having on the Downsview neighbourhood, including noise complaints and traffic concerns. 

“We have been working with Live Nation, Northcrest Developments and City of Toronto divisions to ensure that all bylaws are adhered to and both local residents and concert goers are respected,” Pasternak’s statement reads.

Now Toronto reached out to Pasternak for comment, but did not hear back in time for publication.

In an email on Tuesday, the City of Toronto told Now Toronto that it is working closely with Live Nation, the Toronto Police Service, TTC, and other partners to help make the experience of attending a concert at the stadium as enjoyable as possible, while also working to mitigate impacts on nearby residents and road users.

Officials say that since the stadium first opened, the city and its partners have continued to adapt traffic management plans, including real-time adjustments during events. 

“City staff, including bylaw enforcement officers, monitor events at Rogers Stadium to ensure vehicles for hire, businesses, organizers and concertgoers behave safely and in line with municipal rules,” the city said in a statement, adding that police also conduct sound level measurements to monitor compliance with the Noise Exemption Permit. 

“When 311 complaints are received during events, Officers attempt to communicate with complainants immediately or follow up afterward. So far, all events have been compliant with permitted noise levels,” the city continued, urging any residents with concerns to contact them via 3-1-1. 

Now Toronto also reached out to Live Nation, the company managing the stadium, for comment on the noise complaints, but did not hear back in time of publication. 

ADVOCACY GROUP LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN TO ADDRESS NOISE IN NEIGHBOURHOOD

Ingrid Buday, founder of grassroots advocacy group No More Noise Toronto (NMNT), which works to end noise pollution in the city, told Now Toronto that residents have connected with her to share concerns about the noise coming from the stadium, and many are frustrated with what they view as unequal consultations.

“It sounds like in some areas there was community engagement, in other areas, not so much,” Buday told Now Toronto.

Buday says it appears residents were not consulted uniformly around the venue ahead of construction of the stadium. But it’s not just the sound level of music, pyrotechnics and other elements of the actual concert that is causing an issue; residents have reached out to NMNT to complain about the performances causing their homes to shake. 

“People have shared with me videos of their windows vibrating,” Buday shared, adding that she has also heard complaints about the noise coming from people driving to and from Rogers Stadium. 

“So, people who live in that area now are like ‘This isn’t our neighbourhood anymore,’ and they feel that the city and the council haven’t stood up for their perspective and their rights, so to speak, to enjoy their home and enjoy their backyards.”

“Also, the communication wasn’t necessarily transparent or in a venue that was conducive to people being comfortable. So, for example, it was being held on private property,” Buday said. 

In response to residents’ concerns, NMNT launched a campaign calling for the city and Live Nation to address the concerns of residents. 

The campaign, A New Neighbour – Rogers Stadium, addresses several parties, including Pasternak, Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow, MP Roman Baber, MPP Michael Kerzner, the city’s Municipal Licensing and Standards Department, Live Nation and Rogers.

“While we understand that arts and culture need to expand beyond the downtown core, more consideration needs to be given to the areas that are not accustomed to this kind of noise and traffic congestion,” the campaign reads. “There was not enough transparent community consultation, and this has been thrust upon us with little to no notice.”

The campaign calls for additional and more effective methods of noise reduction, including overall sound level limiters, reducing the bass frequencies through equalization or multiband limiters, and installing additional noise barriers around the stadium.

“There’s something that you can attach to the amplifier where it just cuts off at 85 decibels, that’s as loud as it goes,” Buday said. “There are ways that you can reduce the bass frequencies, which is what causes those vibrations, through equalization or multi-band limiters. There can be additional noise barriers around the stadium.”

Other demands include requiring shows to end at 11 p.m. without exception and not having concerts early in the week.

“Oasis has now been there on a Monday night, and people need to go to work the next day. So, the concert may end at 11, but then you have the traffic, and then you have the people noise, so it goes on until 1-1:30 in the morning,” Buday shared.

Buday shared that she has been in contact with Live Nation, who say they are reaching out to people who send emails through the A New Neighbour campaign email template.