Poolside Partying Irks Some Lake Elsinore Hotel And Casino Neighbors

Live music, dancing and entertainment will go poolside at the , but not everyone is looking forward to the added attraction.

On Tuesday, the Lake Elsinore Planning Commission unanimously passed a resolution to permit live entertainment within the lounge, restaurant and poolside area of the Lake Elsinore Hotel and Casino located at 20930 Malaga Road.

Some residents who live across the street from the hotel and casino are unhappy with the decision to allow outdoor entertainment at the venue. A handful of them turned out Tuesday to express concern about increased noise levels and traffic.

Wildomar resident Jacqueline Gibson lives across the street from the site and objects to the outdoor entertainment.

“Three-hundred feet away from me is a live band,” she said, adding that residents in her neighborhood have difficulty sleeping at night when it gets noisy at the hotel and casino. She brought to Tuesday’s meeting a stack of signed petitions from her neighbors who object to the poolside partying.

One of those neighbors, Debra Bryant, was at Tuesday night’s meeting. She said she has lived across the street from the hotel and casino for nearly six years, but the noise and traffic have worn on her.

“I’m ready to sell the house and move out of here,” she said after the planning commission’s approval of the outdoor entertainment at the hotel and casino.

Under the conditional use permit passed Tuesday night, musical and comedy events will take place at the venue on weekends, with occasional weekday and holiday events. All events would conclude by 2 a.m. in indoor areas. Poolside entertainment will conclude by 11:30 p.m. and will only be held during the summer months, starting with Memorial Day weekend and ending Labor Day weekend.

City staff had recommended that outdoor entertainment conclude by 10 p.m., but Greg Barton, director of operations at the hotel and casino, urged that the early hour would be prohibitive to his business, and the commissioners voted unanimously to approve the 11:30 p.m. cutoff.

Barton said he expects poolside entertainment will take place approximately two nights per month. He also said that his clientele skews older, so live bands that get booked will most likely perform classic rock, jazz or blues.

Under Tuesday night’s approval, noise levels cannot exceed 46 decibels at the property line after 10 p.m., according to City Attorney Barbara Liebold. She said the property line is defined as that at which the commercial zone and the residential zone meet. Homes sit directly across the street from the hotel and casino on Malaga Road.

The city will not be measuring the noise levels. Instead, residents will need to file complaints with the city if the sound gets too loud, which in turn could prompt noise level studies by the hotel and casino, said City Manager Bob Brady.

Given residents’ concerns, the project will be reviewed by the planning commission at the end of September. A project review could come sooner if there are complaints about noise, traffic or other issues.