The Sunset, an 8,000-seat outdoor amphitheater proposed for the north side of Colorado Springs, is intended to draw musical acts that residents would otherwise have to travel elsewhere to see.

One such destination for those music lovers: Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre in Greenwood Village, south of Denver and within minutes of Interstate 25, just west off of exit 197 for Arapahoe Road.

The venue seats an estimated 18,000 people on a sold-out evening. The venue, which opened in 1988, places little stress on the community from a traffic and a law enforcement standpoint.

“We’re back up, I would say, to a normal level we’ve got 26 shows this year and it goes all the way from maybe a couple thousand tickets sold up to a sellout, 18,000,” Greenwood Village Police Department Commander Joe Gutgsell said. “For as many people that come through we have an incredibly low number of complaints and we have an incredibly low number of activities of criminal violations.”

Gutgsell, who has been in charge of the department’s law enforcement presence at the venue for the past nine years, said that of 19 concerts as of Sept. 1 this season, only five have drawn noise complaints and none of those complaints has resulted in the venue being found at fault. Gutgsell credited venue and production staff for making sure that performing acts adhere to the rules placed in the annexation agreement passed by the Greenwood Village City Council in September 2006.

In that agreement, the city lays out a maximum decibel level of 110 for performing artists. In addition, the city set curfews for how late a performance can last. On Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday the cutoff time for all acts is 10:45 p.m. For weekend evenings which include Friday, Saturday and even Sunday, the cutoff is 11:15 p.m. Gutgsell said he cannot recall any act that has gone over the time limit.

Gutgsell said the police department receives a spreadsheet showing the exact decibel reading of every show throughout a particular evening down to the minute. The sheet also shows humidity levels and the temperature. He is able to cross-reference the document for when a noise complaint comes in versus how loud a concert was in that moment. According to Gutgsell, complaints usually come in when there is a spike in concert volume. The highest level Gutgsell sees is around 105 decibels, but other factors lead to noise complaints including the genre of music being played, especially those that feature a lot of bass, or the weather including wind and humidity levels.

The police department also requires the venue to have an independent laboratory recalibrate and inspect the piece of equipment that monitors the decibel levels annually.

Gutgsell said he makes it a priority to respond to individual complaints and said most people are understanding once told how the department monitors concerts.

“Once you explain to them what we do and how we monitor it, I think most of them are, I don’t want to say pleased but most of them understand it a little bit,” he said. “And they understand the fact that we take the time to follow up with them and to check into it to make sure that the venue isn’t violating any of the agreement aspects.”

The commander said the venue has seen a sharp decline in noise complaints since the sound-absorption wall was improved in 2013 as part of a larger renovation. Prior to the construction of the wall, Gutgsell said the police department would receive one or two noise complaints per concert.

Also in 2006, the Greenwood Village Police Department took over as the primary law enforcement agency for Fiddler’s Green from the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office. Gutgsell said a big positive for the venue is the lack of negative in terms of actual crimes being committed from a law enforcement perspective.

Over the last 10 years, the police department has seen a decline in overall rowdiness at the venue be it in the form of fights, drug use, menacing or other violations. He said the department has had no major issues this year with an average of 8,000 tickets sold per concert. Activity can vary depending on the type of band playing and the number of tickets sold.

The department takes a more hands-off approach allowing Anschutz Entertainment Group’s security to make the decision as whether to remove a rowdy concertgoer, stepping in as needed.

As far as traffic and parking, Fiddler’s Green is surrounded by corporate high rises with a hotel, and a few retail stores and apartment complexes. The lots adjacent to the venue are commandeered for paid parking at $20 a spot. Free parking can be had a few blocks south of the venue in lots shared by corporate buildings and retailers for what amounts to a 10- to 15-minute walk to and from the amphitheater.

Gutgsell said that traffic coming into the concert, what he called the ingress, is less worrisome for police as people arrive at the concert at different times with some choosing to arrive for the opening acts and others coming solely for the headliner.

Egress, or when the concertgoers depart, is a bigger issue for police but Gutgsell said they work with city engineers to have the surrounding traffic lights allow for more time for people to leave the area. The multiple exits and arterials leading to Arapahoe help speed the process of people leaving.

At a Jack Johnson concert that drew about 16,500 people Aug. 31, Gutgsell said the concert ended at 10:44 p.m. From that point until 11:15 p.m., Gutgsell said there was a high amount of traffic, beyond 11:15 p.m. he said there was a precipitous drop in the number of departing guests and the area was nearly clear, with just 1% of concertgoers remaining, at 11:30 p.m.