Big crowd attends Tuesday evening public meeting on proposed Sunset Amphitheater in north Colorado Springs

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- An audience of several hundred people filled the Boot Barn Hall on the city's north side Tuesday regarding the proposal to build an 8,000-seat outdoor entertainment venue.

It was an opportunity for people -- many of whom live in the area -- to raise concerns and ask questions about the plan for the Sunset Amphitheater in the Polaris Pointe retail development near the intersection of Northgate Boulevard and Voyager Parkway.

A panel of of speakers including the developer, J.W. Roth, along with project planners, sat on a stage facing the audience to discuss the plan during the two-hour meeting that started at 5 p.m.

Roth first applied to the city for the plan in January and hopes to have it ready for consideration by the city's Planning Commission in November.

The public meeting was originally scheduled for last month, but the project team postponed it to consider public feedback and to await the results of a traffic study.

Parking looms as the main hurdle: The venue would have only around 800 on-site parking spaces, and the team is trying to find nearby on-site parking from which spectators could be shuttled in and out.

Neighbors also worry about noise, traffic congestion and the behavior of people who would attend events at the amphitheater and possibly park on neighborhood streets.

But supporters say that the venue would be more convenient than driving to similar venues -- such as Red Rocks and Fiddlers Green in Denver -- and are excited at the potential of a venue that would be state-of-the-art and attract top entertainment acts from May through September.

The project team has hired a top national expert in traffic, parking and shuttle management planning for venues and sporting events, and plans to re-submit the application to the city after the results of all studies are in.