Live outdoor music is finally coming to The Grove House after the Mariposa County Planning Commission approved a permit earlier this month that established noise levels and conditions.
The restaurant-bar-event space at 4993 5th Street in Mariposa has earned a reputation for luring top-notch musical talent. Adding an outdoor stage makes it an even more attractive space for summer shows.
Under an amended conditional use permit the Planning Commission passed on March 20, The Grove House can have a maximum of four outdoor amplified music events a week between 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
The Grove House is currently open from Wednesday through Saturday.
The average sound level cannot exceed 75 decibels when measured from Bullion Street or 70 decibels from two locations on 5th Street.
That is a range considered moderately loud, equivalent to a vacuum cleaner or dishwasher.
Peak volume is not to exceed 85 decibels, which is considered a hazardous threshold with prolonged exposure of more than eight hours, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Grove House will be using a “controlled dispersion sound reinforcement system” that will direct the sound toward the audience and away from neighbors.
Sub woofers won’t be used unless they comply with the sound limits.
Nate Pyle, who owns The Grove House with his wife Rosalind, declined to talk about the permit approval or plans for live music outdoors this summer.
He said in an interview before The Grove House reopened last month that he didn’t want to bring “any more heat” to the issue.
In May 2022, Pyle tried to get the necessary outdoor sound permit, but withdrew the request three months later.
The community response to the noise permit four years ago was decidedly mixed.
Nearly two dozen letters sent to the Planning Commission were supportive of outdoor music at The Grove House, including a letter of support from the Yosemite Mariposa Tourism Bureau, which saw it as another amenity that could drive visitors to town.
The 5th Street Inn was supportive four years ago as well, but owner Patti Radanovich-Sousa admitted, “our business has been affected by the music, we have had complaints.”
Whether the music was inside or outside, she said it is “easily heard.”
There were also 10 letters objecting to the plan due to noise concerns, mainly from customers, staff and the owner of Castillos, the Mexican restaurant next door.
Owner Holly Ericson said the outdoor music stage is inches from her property line.
“Several times my servers have called me in the evening concerned for the business and customers as the noise of the bands were to the point that the window panes were vibrating from the loudness,” Ericson wrote in 2022.
At the time, Pyle was also displeased by a Mariposa Gazette headline on the controversy that read, “Grove House wants to party all the time.” Pyle eventually printed bumper stickers with the headline.
This time around, however, the permit application drew less attention.
Pyle also came prepared with considerable research.
He measured volume levels during concerts at the county fairgrounds and local festivals.
He also conducted an experiment last November at The Grove House involving a 20 member Ukelele ensemble with amplified sound. The noise only reached 66 decibels.
But planners believe “louder contemporary performances” will likely be at least 10 decibels higher, around 77 decibels.
The amended conditional permit also established real time sound monitoring, a complaint process and an on-sight sound manager whose contact information will be provided to the county and neighboring property owners.
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