Mill Avenue’s Shady Park loses legal battle over live music, says closure is possible
Apr 14, 2022, 2:00 PM
(Facebook Photo/Shady Park Tempe)
(Facebook Photo/Shady Park Tempe)
PHOENIX — Shady Park on Tuesday lost a legal battle with a nearby retirement community over its live music productions, a move the Mill Avenue venue said could cause it to close its doors.
The ruling from a Maricopa County Superior Court judge limited Shady Park’s live music hours, siding with Mirabella at ASU’s complaints that the noise and hours of operation were causing “the possibility of irreparable injury” to residents.
Shady Park can only have live music from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. six days a week and 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Sundays as part of the preliminary injunction. A limit on noise levels was also included in the ruling.
The downtown Tempe venue, which began hosting concerts in 2015, would typically host live music until 2 a.m. on the weekends.
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“This ruling will force Shady Park to cease all live music operations immediately as the restrictions mandated make it impossible for us to hold live music events,” Shady Park said in a statement.
“We strongly disagree with the findings and we will be appealing. If upheld, Shady Park will likely be forced to close its doors to so may of our friends, family and staff members.”
The decision was the latest step in the sides’ live music clash.
Mirabella at ASU, a community for those 62 years old and older, opened in December 2020 on the southeast side of Mill Avenue and University Drive, directly across from the venue.
Shady Park wasn’t hosting live concerts at that time due to the COVID-19 pandemic, resuming operations in May 2021.
Mirabella residents said that when the concerts resumed, the noise was “incessant” and “unrelenting,” and was often the loudest after 1 a.m.
Shady Park argued it was a “get off my lawn” case from Mirabella, which the judge rejected.
“We remain hopeful that the court system will correct this injustice and that our appeal will allow us to once again host live music and provide a bit of joy and happiness to thousands of people every week,” Shady Park said.
