Collaboration key to keeping all sides happy with SnowGlobe

"This is what our community is all about, true collaboration," said Mayor Pro Tem Tom Davis during Tuesday's Council meeting. "I want to thank all of you for working with us and finding solutions."

Chad Donnelly, the CEO of SnowGlobe Music Festival, the City of South Lake Tahoe and members of the No Globe Alliance spent the month of march working together to address concerns about the three-day music festival held annually in South Lake Tahoe.

Donnelly and his team listened to the 17 changes No Globe requested for the festival. SnowGlobe has adopted eight of them completely and five in a significant degree.

"I think we’ve made tremendous progress in a collaborative effort over the last couple of weeks," said Donnelly.

He also surprised No Globe during Tuesday's meeting by moving the times of the music even further than they had previously agreed on.

Two main changes for 2018:
Music at SnowGlobe will run from 2:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. on December 29 and 30, and 3:00 p.m. to 12:45 a.m. on Dec. 31 and no more sound checks before 11:00 a.m.

SnowGlobe will cover the whole Community Playfield where the festival is held, all 244,000 sq ft of it with the same material used at AT&T Park and Levi's Stadium when they have concerts on the grass where the San Francisco Giants and 49ers play. Donnelly said they would remove snow, if any, before the field cover is put down. "We are doing everything we can to protect the field," said Donnelly. "We will bear the entire cost and place a $250,000 bond with city again in event there are damages." He said they are committed to repairing fields if needed and getting them ready for youth play by June 1, 2019. This past winter, SnowGlobe covered the portion of the playfield where tents and buildings were, and those areas didn't have damage.

There will also be new sound measurements in place, the South Lake Tahoe Drug Free Coalition will have free booth space inside the venue, ano more than 20,000 tickets will be sold, all vendors and employees will be safety trained and plans for Bijou Park will be submitted to the City are other changes coming in 2018.

"Thank you to Mr. Donnolly to dropping the time to 10:00 p.m., a pleasant surprise," said Scott Ramirez of No Globe. "Communication has been considerate and considered.

"We don’t want to end this thing, we want people to come here and have a good time, but I also want to read a book and not be bothered by the bass," said nearby resident and No Globe Alliance leader John Spinola. Spinola lives across the street from the main stage of SnowGlobe.

"The tool to get rid of us is to put in measurable standards," said Ramirez. "Seven years of concerts have brought them here."

Donnolly and his team have tried to address all of No Globe's concerns.

"This is a huge step forward and I encourage everyone to give us a chance," said Donnolly of their improvements.

One concern of the alliance was the sound and if it met Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) noise thresholds. Kevin Fabino, Development Services Director for the City said the TRPA Standard is based on an average 24-hour period and they take the middle of night into that average.

"Current standards that Chad is proposing actually work well under their standards," said Fabino. "TRPA doesn’t use a moment of time standard."

Mark Salmon of the local soccer community spoke to those concerned with the condition of the community play fields. They'll be bringing 14,000 players to South Lake Tahoe June 16-17, just as they do every year. He said Donnelly and his crew reached out to them and asked, "how can we help you in the future, and what would you like to see with the fields?" Salmon said the teams practicing on fields now can only use the middle school due to snow covering all other practice fields, much as they do every year. He said they are happy with Donnelly's plan to have the fields ready by June 1.

The facilities use permit SnowGlobe has for 2018 will be amended to reflect the changes.