Temecula Extends Old Town Outdoor Live Entertainment Pilot Program For Another Year

The Temecula City Council Tuesday unanimously voted to extend the Old Town Outdoor Live Entertainment Pilot Program for an additional year.

“I see this program as an opportunity, not only for the businesses that are there currently, but anybody who’s thinking of opening a business in Old Town, because, as we know, businesses tend to cycle,” Councilmember James “Stew” Stewart said at the July 22 meeting. “That’s why I’m in favor of this program, is to give the merchant or the restaurateur the opportunity to succeed with as many tools as they could possibly have.”

The council approved the pilot program last July, voting to allow outdoor live entertainment exclusively in the “Downtown Core District,” through a Temporary Use Permit (TUP) process, which currently includes completing an application and paying a $307 fee. The idea for the program was a result of two joint workshops with the Planning Commission about alcohol and entertainment in Old Town during the fall of 2023.

The program allows permitted businesses to have certain live outdoor entertainment between the hours of 10 a.m. and 9 p.m. Prohibited are percussion instruments, disc jockeys (DJs) and speakers, or other sound amplification devices, that point toward neighboring properties.

“Although the concept of the pilot program generated ample interest at the programs’ inception, there have only been two TUPs applied for and issued for such outdoor entertainment,” a staff report said. “There have been a number of noise violations at one of these establishments while none for the other permitted establishment.”

Code Enforcement Manager Jamie Lenos said code enforcement officers assess potential noise violations using decibel readers that get calibrated before each shift and serviced annually by the manufacturer to ensure their accuracy.

“The officer then takes the reading from the nearest public sidewalk or the adjacent property of the establishment,” she said. “A minimum of three readings are taken within 30 minutes, and the decibel reader report determines an actual average.”

If that average exceeds 70 dBA, she said, a citation is issued.

Earlier this year, city staff met with the Old Town Local Advisory Committee, which recommended that the program continue, though the City council Old Town Steering Subcommittee, which includes Mayor Pro-Tem Jessica Alexander and Councilmember Zak Schwank, was initially hesitant to make a decision on the future of the program based on the reported noise violations from the one permit holder, according to the staff report.

The subcommittee, after speaking with permit holders, recommended that the program continue with the understanding that permits will be revoked after three violations, that businesses pay any outstanding fines on time in order to receive a permit and that the subcommittee receive quarterly reports, Mark Collins, senior planner, told the council.

The pilot program was initially set to end August 8 of this year, but is now set to end next August. The currently permitted businesses will not need to reapply, though Collins said the city would increase its outreach in an effort to increase participation in the program.

“When we discussed this program, when it first started, we were inundated with calls,” he said. “We expected this to be going off like gangbusters and, you know, trying to fight people off with a stick for entertainment, but unfortunately, when it came live, we had a real interest at first, but then only these two applications came forward.”