A History of Music & Balance

Live music has shaped Hope since the 1980s. The Seaview Bar, Hope Hoedown, and later events at Bear Creek Lodge (now Dirty Skillet) created a vibrant but generally balanced summer music scene. Though concerns have arisen as the town has evolved, business owners and residents typically work through them informally — even with no city council, zoning, or public ordinances. Hope has long demonstrated that small-town quiet and live music can coexist.

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A Change in Scale

In 2018, Creekbend (formerly Tito’s Café) began hosting live music on residentially surrounded property. Early events were comparable to other venues in town. In the years since, however, concerts have expanded significantly in size, frequency, and volume.

By summer 2025:

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• 44 concerts were held (triple early years) 

• Up to 600 tickets were sold per event

• Parking far exceeded on-site capacity

• Sound levels surpassed residential standards in comparable communities

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What was once incremental growth has become a fundamentally different scale of operation, creating widespread and ongoing impacts downtown.

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Efforts to Resolve Concerns

Residents first pursued informal solutions through emails, calls, texts, letters, and in-person conversations. Later, community meetings were held with the owners. 

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• In 2019, a community meeting was held with 57 people in attendance, when faced with residents sharing concerns about growing events, the owner indicated concerts would be limited to 14–15 nights per season, one night per week. 

• In 2024, residents requested no-parking signage from the Kenai Peninsula Borough to reduce congestion; this request was opposed by Creekbend. 

• Outreach to the owners and to borough and state agencies produced little change. As impacts continued, residents installed driveway barricades and posted private property signs to deter trespassing and camping.

 

The Core Issues​​

1. Music Volume​

Concerts now run 4–5 hours (plus soundcheck), up to three days per week.

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Residential sound limits in comparable towns typically allow:​

• 60 dB(A) daytime

• 50 dB(A) nighttime

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​Documented levels during events:​

• 90+ dB(A) adjacent to the venue

• 80 dB(A) within 70–80 feet

• 70 dB(A) across most downtown (up to 3,000 ft away)

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At these levels, music is clearly audible inside closed homes, making sleep difficult or impossible and limiting normal use of surrounding properties. 

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2. Parking & Emergency Access​

Creekbend provides space for roughly 80 vehicles, while events draw up to 600 patrons. This results in:​

• 100–200 vehicles on nearby streets and bike paths

• Blocked driveways and yards

• Frequent overnight camping in no-camping zones and on private property

• Travel lanes narrowed below 20 ft, limiting emergency vehicle access

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Remote overflow parking has proven ineffective without enforcement or incentives.

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3. Patron Behavior​

After concerts end (10pm–midnight), patrons disperse into surrounding streets:

• Noise often continues past 2am

• Trash and unattended campfires are left behind

• Trespassing and overnight camping occur on private property

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These impacts extend beyond inconvenience and directly affect residents’ sleep, safety, work, recreation, and enjoyment of their homes.

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A Path Toward Compromise

Friends of Hope, Inc. was formed to facilitate an official agreement between the community of Hope and Creekbend Co. Once formal commitments to impact mitigation are made, we plan to withdraw our objection to the AMCO board before April 14th.

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These are our key areas of resolution:

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Noise Mitigation

• Better containment of amplified sound on site

• Reduced high dB(A) impacts off site on weekends

• Reduced number of high dB(A) events on weekdays

• End nightly music when standard residential quiet hours begin (10pm)

Parking Management

• Expanded effective on-site parking

• Better management of overflow parking

• Maintenance of 20 ft emergency access lanes on adjacent public streets

Patron Facilities

• Match crowd sizes to available infrastructure (max 500 people)

• Expanded restroom facilities

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Hope has traditionally demonstrated that live music and quiet living can coexist. The goal is not to eliminate Creekbend’s live music events, but to ensure that their continuation does not disproportionately impact neighboring residents and shared community spaces.

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We are hopeful that a mutually workable compromise can be reached.