Concerns from city agencies and area residents halted the progress of legislation that would legalize outdoor concerts at Belvedere Square.

The bill went before the City Council's land use and transportation committee July 16, and the committee opted not to vote on the legislation.

The bill, filed by Councilman Bill Henry, 4th District, would amend the shopping center's Planned Unit Development to officially allow the outdoor concerts.

The square hosts weekly concerts Friday nights through the summer. The shows draw hundreds of people and are credited by the square's management with contributing to the resurgence of the once-struggling shopping center.

Neighbors along Orkney Road want the approval of the amendment to be delayed until it addresses several unrelated issues at the square.

The shopping center was cited by the city last month for installing a heating and air-conditioning system without a permit. The center also was cited because the equipment is too close to its property line and because its exhaust fans are too loud, according to the city Health Department.

"I ask that you use the PUD amendment as a carrot and a stick," Kristy Taylor, an Orkney Road resident, told the land use committee.

John Pezzulla, director of property management for Struever Bros., Eccles & Rouse, the lead redeveloper of the center, apologized for the HVAC problems and said the management is working to make corrections, including looking at relocating the units to another area of the center.

Pezzulla asked residents to be patient with the process.

"If it was easy to fix, it would have been done a long time ago," he said.

The PUD amendment does have its supporters.

During the meeting, several merchants from Belvedere Square testified in favor of it.

Nelson Carey, owner of Grand Cru, a wine bar, said he was in favor of the amendment because of the vitality the concerts bring to the square.

"When I first signed my lease, there was no traffic problem," he said. "There was no parking problem. There was nobody here."

However, the amendment is opposed by some businesses in the area, most notably the Senator Theatre.

Tom Kiefaber, owner of the theater, has been rallying against the proposed change in the amendment for months.

He says the evening concerts take all his parking and kill his Friday night box office during the summer, a key time for theaters to make money.

Kiefaber didn't attend the committee hearing, and Henry referred to him as "the elephant not in the room."

Henry, who has pushed ahead with the legislation despite opposition, argued that the concerts need to be made legal.

However, in his remarks closing the hearing he acknowledged that better planning was needed to accommodate the concerts.

"What is really needed in this area is a comprehensive plan that acknowledges all the development that has happened over the last five years," he said.

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