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Amplified music is to be allowed at musical concerts at Ecco Adesso Vineyards this summer, as long as the speakers are directed away from neighbors and the volume is at an acceptably low level.
Sound tests were conducted at the northern Rockbridge County vineyards on July 14 that showed it was possible to prevent the music from “trespassing” on neighboring properties. Complaints from neighbors about the sound from concerts earlier this summer prompted the Board of Supervisors on June 12 to prohibit amplified music as a condition of an outdoor music permit that was granted.
On July 14, local musician and resident Stacy Stevens set up his guitar, voice microphone and amplified sound system to conduct tests at varying sound levels and in two directional orientations. Supervisors Bob Day and Leslie Ayers were positioned on neighboring properties to assess their interpretation of sound levels during the testing.
Day and Ayers both concluded that directing the sound away from the neighbors and at an acceptably low volume would prevent the neighbors from being disturbed. They joined their fellow supervisors in voting 5-0 to amend the outdoor music permit to allow amplified music. The supervisors made it clear that if the proper procedures were not followed in future concerts, the prohibition against amplified music would be reinstated.
