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The organizer, Townsquare Media, projects a crowd of 6,000 to 8,000 on the Eastern Prom in August.
Portland city councilors gave the green light Monday for a major music festival on the Eastern Promenade next summer as city officials try to improve upon the success of a 2012 concert by the band Mumford & Sons.
Councilors voted unanimously to allow the acting city manager to continue working with Townsquare Media Portland LLC to plan a music festival on the Eastern Prom on a yet-to-be-determined weekend in August.
Townsquare Media, which owns radio stations in Maine and across the country, has also yet to say who might perform during the festival, but councilors - tiptoeing around a potentially sensitive issue - urged city staff to make sure any acts have a history of drawing well-behaved crowds.
'Not only is The Hill a scenic spot, it is a residential neighborhood,' Councilor Ed Suslovic said, referring to the Munjoy Hill neighborhood. 'And I want to make sure that we have the right to say, 'No, get someone else.' '
The festival would tentatively be scheduled for a Saturday from 1 to 10 p.m. on a stage set up in the Cutter Street middle parking lot, according to the proposal. The rain date would be the next day.
Diane Davison, executive director of the Friends of the Eastern Promenade, said the organization unanimously endorsed the proposed festival.
In talking with Townsquare Media, city officials are trying to replicate but on a smaller and better-organized scale an August 2012 festival headlined by Mumford & Sons, a British group that at the time was one of the hottest bands in the country. An estimated 15,000 fans flocked to the Eastern Prom that day.
Townsquare Media projects a crowd of 6,000 to 8,000 at next year's festival.
While the 2012 concert was widely considered a success - and a surprisingly smooth one, at that - there were some issues that came up during Monday night's City Council meeting.
Councilor Kevin Donoghue noted that he heard from some Munjoy Hill families who were denied access to their neighborhood for a half-hour or longer. Others complained about the placement of portable toilets next to their residences while festival-goers lamented the limited options and long lines for food during the daylong concert.
Andrew Downs, Portland's director of public assembly facilities, said the city staff is working on a system that will allow Munjoy Hill residents to get past the barricades to access their homes. The city is also looking at the proper placement of toilets and plans to work with Townsquare Media to make sure there are enough food vendors - including some local businesses - for the crowd.
'We have taken notes on the last time,' Downs said.
And then there was the issue of who will perform on the Eastern Prom - and more important, the common appeal of the music they will play and the behavior of the crowds they will draw.
Councilor Nicholas Mavodones said that the type of music played by Mumford & Sons - a folk-rock band - probably appealed to more residents than would loud 'metallic' acts.
'I'm a little concerned because I am not sure it is that easy to replicate what went well with Mumford & Sons,' Councilor Jon Hinck said. The problem isn't necessarily that bands behave inappropriately, Hinck said, 'the problem is the crowd they draw.'
But councilors also were sensitive to the fact that even discussing which acts were appropriate or inappropriate could be tricky. Ultimately, however, the city 'reserves the right to approve all performing artists prior to executing an official agreement,' according to a memo from Downs to the acting city manager, Sheila Hill-Christian.
In other news, a proposed comprehensive plan for the India Street neighborhood is moving through the council process.
In the works for well over a year, the India Street Sustainable Neighborhood Plan proposes several major changes to guide future development in a historic part of the city.
The proposal calls for:
* Creation of a historic district that would require more extensive review of new development as well as renovations to existing historic buildings.
* Establishment of a 'form-based code' that focuses less on what uses are allowed in the zone and more on the form, scale and mass of development. The aim of form-based codes is to create an environment that allows mixed-use development while maintaining a neighborhood feel.
* The use of 'inclusionary zoning' that would require housing developers to allocate some units for affordable housing or pay into a city fund.
There was broad agreement among members of the India Street Neighborhood Advisory Committee on some issues, but the group splintered on other questions, including whether to recommend specific height restrictions on new development and the boundaries of a proposed historic district.
Shipyard Brewing objected to the designation of two buildings that the brewery owns as 'potentially contributing' to the historic district zone. Shipyard's general counsel, Brandon Mazer, said Shipyard bought those two buildings years ago with the expectation that they could be demolished to accommodate future expansion. But Mazer said such a designation could preclude those plans.
'We don't want to be boxed into a corner and we are concerned that we would be,' said Mazer, a member of the working group who voted against the version now headed to City Council committees for review.
Entities 0 Name: Townsquare Media Count: 4 1 Name: Mumford & Sons Count: 4 2 Name: Munjoy Hill Count: 3 3 Name: City Council Count: 2 4 Name: Mazer Count: 2 5 Name: Portland Count: 2 6 Name: Brandon Mazer Count: 1 7 Name: Townsquare Media Portland LLC Count: 1 8 Name: Sheila Hill-Christian Count: 1 9 Name: India Street Neighborhood Advisory Committee Count: 1 10 Name: Ed Suslovic Count: 1 11 Name: Downs Count: 1 12 Name: Jon Hinck Count: 1 13 Name: Diane Davison Count: 1 14 Name: Kevin Donoghue Count: 1 15 Name: India Street Count: 1 16 Name: The Hill Count: 1 17 Name: Hinck Count: 1 18 Name: Eastern Prom Count: 1 19 Name: Eastern Promenade Count: 1 20 Name: Shipyard Brewing Count: 1 21 Name: India Count: 1 22 Name: Nicholas Mavodones Count: 1 23 Name: Andrew Downs Count: 1 24 Name: Maine Count: 1 Related 0 Url: http://ift.tt/1w1Wyqq Title: Music Festival may come to Portland next year Description: PORTLAND, Maine (NEWS CENTER) -- An all-day music festival could be heading to the Eastern Promenade in Portland next summer. Although, it's unknown who the headlining acts would be. According to our media partners at Portland Press Herald, Townsquare Media Portland will ask the city council to approve the festival for sometime in Portland.
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