This article appeared in the Beacon Hill Paper on July 8, 1997

There's a slick, 77-page document sitting on my desk called the Boston Common Management Plan. Residents, parks advocates and city officials prepared the plan after years of investigation, discussion and debate. It's a great document that lays out a vision for the common withconcrete guidelines for its use.

Radio station 98.5 is proposing an event for Saturday and Sunday, October 11th and 12th called MixFest. The weekend will feature acts such as Tony Bennett and Harry Connick, Jr. (who could be opposed to them…?) on a main stage. A second stage will feature local musical and theatrical acts and a special section of the event will feature events for children (who could be opposed to that…?). Funds raised from the event will benefit the Children's Advocacy Center of Suffolk County, a group that provides direct assistance to victims of child abuse (and who could ever oppose that…?).

Unfortunately, MixFest, like other recent events on the Common, directly breaches the Management Plan's guidelines. Crowds of about 50,000 people are expected. The Management Plan sets an upper limit of 10,000 poeple at one time. The acts will be loud, and almost certainly will be over agreed upon decibel levels for the area. The use of the area will be intense. Aside from a multitude of acts and activities, 40 to 50 vendors will be selling arts and crafts and another 30 or so will be peddling food and beverages.

Although the Management Plan lies out strict rules about the kinds of acceptable events on the Common, there have been exceptions in the past. For example, the last time the Pope visited Boston, he said Mass on the Common and attracted well more than 10,000 people. Should MixFest also be permitted an exception?

This is not MixFest's first year of operation. Last year, residents in Beacon Hill and Back Bay reported being overwhelmed by the noise from the event. As plans for MixFest 1997 have developed, an increasing number of residents and the Beacon Hill Civic Association have asked the Parks Department to rethink the event altogether, arguing it should be moved to City Hall Plaza.

Much of the concern over MixFest has a deja vu quality. Last year residents of Beacon Hill and Back Bay provoked a firestorm of controversy when they objected to the addition of large concerts at the Hatch Shell sponsored by radio stations WFNX and WODS. Both neighborhoods were vilified by the concerts' promoters, particularly WFNX owner Stephen Mindich, who tried to depict neighborhood opposition as some sort of anti-rock-music bigotry. (Presumably, following this line of reasoning, objections to MixFest 1997 are coming from an anti-crooner cabal.)

The beauty of the Boston Common Management Plan is that it recognizes that public spaces such as the Common are subject to a myriad of competing uses and constraints. Like the Esplanade, the Common is not just a venue for large outdoor concerts. Like the Esplanade, the Common is a park that is to be used for retreat from the freneticism of urban living; it is not supposed to add to that freneticism. And, like the Esplanade, the Common directly abuts two densely populated residential neighborhoods, the residents of which are entitled — as are residents anywhere — to some semblance of peace and quiet.

Unlike the Esplanade, however, there are guidelines for the use of the Common. Yes, there have been exceptions to those guidelines. But intelligent management of the Common and other public lands requires understanding that the occasional exception does not vitiate the underlying rule. MixFest's promoters have not yet made the case that their event should not be subject to the same rules as anyone else — unless, of course, they plan to have a surprise guest from Rome.