Last week was a swan song for the state bill that would have helped Ford Amphitheater and other venues put on louder concerts.

The House Transportation, Housing and Local Government Committee voted April 14 to indefinitely postpone the noise abatement law. The decision means the proposed Senate Bill 98, which had passed the state Senate in March, will almost certainly be off the table this year.

The vote came a week after the committee heard four hours of public testimony both for and against the bill. The representatives ultimately voted 7-6 against sending the bill to the entire House, with some legislators citing “irreconcilable” differences between the proponents of the bill and residents worried about having to ensure noise pollution at their homes.

“We should not be changing statewide policy to address challenges at a handful of locations, especially when the people most impacted are telling us they are already not being heard. We shouldn’t have to choose between a thriving cultural scene and people being able to live peacefully in their homes,” Rep. Jamie Jackson from Aurora said.

The noise abatement bill would have allowed for-profit venues to apply for local exemptions from the state’s noise pollution law. That use of noise permits had been the case for decades until the Colorado Supreme Court ruled last year that the exemption permits were meant for municipal and nonprofit events.

Senate Bill 98 was heavily promoted by the Colorado Springs-based entertainment company VENU, which owns Ford Amphitheater and the Phil Long Music Hall on the city’s far north side.

VENU opened Ford Amphitheater, an 8,000-seat outdoor complex, in August 2024 in the Polaris Pointe business park. The venue was designed to be open-air, providing concertgoers with a view of Pikes Peak and the Rocky Mountains during performances. The same openness led to thousands of complaints over the past two years from nearby residents who said the concerts were disturbing their nights and causing health problems.

“Although we are disappointed that the legislature missed this opportunity to clarify conflicting noise rules that apply to hundreds of venues throughout the state, we do not expect significant changes at Ford Amphitheater because our operations continue to comply with the law,” VENU spokesman Bill Jaffee said in a statement Wednesday.

“Our support for SB26-098 was about providing greater clarity in the law and ensuring that local communities can continue governing their own affairs,” VENU said.

The bill’s sponsoring representatives, Max Brooks and Mandy Lindsay, proposed amendments that would have imposed additional requirements for meetings with county officials in a case like Ford Amphitheater or reduced the maximum noise allowed by an exemption. Those proposals were not enough to sway a majority of the committee.

At the April 7 meeting, public comments were about 2-1 opposed to the bill. Supporters of the bill included representatives for VENU, other entertainment groups and cities including Boulder and Salida. A majority of the residents who spoke against the bill were from the Colorado Springs area or a national organization called Quiet Communities.

Rose Johnston lives just outside of the city limits to the north of the amphitheater. Johnston said that even on nights when the concert music wasn’t audible, she felt the bass vibrations like a tapping on her chest that couldn’t be stopped. Johnston gave a full slideshow presentation to the House committee on April 7 to oppose the noise bill.

Johnston said Wednesday that it felt euphoric to have her complaints and other residents’ concerns taken seriously by the state legislators. None of the amendments suggested for the noise bill would have created an immediate solution to a loud concert.

“There was nothing that has been proposed yet on the other side that would offer real-time relief. My priority for this would be real-time relief,” Johnston said.

Rep. Amy Paschal, who represents Colorado Springs, said that it was on Mayor Yemi Mobolade and the Colorado Springs City Council to find a better way to address the noise. Paschal said that while the physics around noise travel might be complicated, there should be a solution available at the amphitheater.

“I’m hard-pressed to believe this is not a solvable problem. It just takes the will to figure it out,” Paschal said.

City councilmembers Dave Donelson and Nancy Henjum spoke to the committee on April 7 on opposite sides of the issue. Henjum said the local leaders would be the most informed and accountable when it came to allowing noise.

Donelson said that while he normally supports Colorado Springs using home rule rights to set local limits, noise pollution should be handled differently because it spread outside the city limits.

In January, eight residents in and around Colorado Springs filed a lawsuit against Ford Amphitheater’s operators, claiming the venue created a public noise nuisance that needed to be abated. The case remains ongoing in El Paso County District Court.

Ford Amphitheater has 14 shows listed on its website for 2026, beginning with a May 14 comedy show headlined by John Mulaney.