Rostraver residents complain about noise from winery events

By CHRISTINE HAINES
chaines@yourmvi.com

An agri-business turned concert venue continues to draw complaints from neighbors in Rostraver Township.
Residents living near Vinoski Winery say it’s not just the noise and pounding bass from concerts at the winery, but the explicit lyrics and comments from DJs at the venue, which are also bothersome.
Chad Vorderbrueggen said he’s had to take his young children indoors because of the language clearly heard at his home, about a half mile away from the winery, located at 333 Castle Drive.
“I’ve had to move my kids into the house when they had male strippers there,” Vorderbrueggen said. “I had to listen to George Thorogood use the F-word five times.”
Vorderbrueggen said the volume was so loud for the Thorogood concert that a glass of water in his young son’s bedroom looked like something out of the movie “Jurassic Park,” vibrating to the bass beat.
Commissioner Devin DeRienzo said the Thorogood concert also went over the 70-decibel noise limit at the property line, where the sound was measured at 81 decibels. DeRienzo said the winery cooperated by turning the music down when contacted about the problem.
Another resident, Raymond Delzangle, questioned where the township code officer had been taking readings.
“When you can hear it from my house with all the lyrics and the bass like it’s in my yard, you have a problem,” Delzangle said. “Seventy decibels is car traffic.”
Resident Richard Mollenauer brought a chart, showing that 70 decibels is a hair dryer or a vacuum cleaner.
“You can’t hear a hair dryer a half mile away, which is what my house is,” Mollenauer said.
Mollenauer said township records showed that until the past few weeks when the Thorogood concert was held, the most recent sound level taken at the property line was done on Nov. 9, 2020.
DeRienzo said that was true, and the code officer had been taking readings at the homes of the people filing the complaints, but he has since been instructed to take the readings at the property line of the Vinoski Winery since that is what is specified in the conditional use agreement passed in 2016.
Vorderbrueggen said that when the conditional use was approved, the winery had said it would have three to five large events a year.
“This year the winery has 104 shows going on,” Vorderbrueggen said.
According to the winery’s website, there are 11 events scheduled at the winery in October, with a 12th concert postponed. Some of the concerts have attracted several thousand spectators, township officials said.
Commissioner Gary Beck sympathized with the residents.
“I’m just as disappointed as you are. I didn’t think we were going to have another Star Lake Amphitheater,” Beck said.
Some of the issues, such as the amplified obscenities and strip show narrations, were new information for the commissioners.
Commissioners’ President John Lorenzo said the residents raised valid issues.
“The problem is, we’re handicapped. They’re grandfathered in. How many of the conditions do they need to violate (of their conditional use permit) before they aren’t in compliance? The solicitor is looking at that. As for the obscenities and some of the other things that are going on, I’ll talk to the police chief and see how we can address that.”

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