Some Still Roiled Over Water Ride : Knott’s Meets With Neighbors About New Attraction

Knott’s Berry Farm officials met with neighbors Thursday to ease their concerns about living next door to a water park. But apparently not everybody was calmed.

When residents who live close to the park learned about plans for Wild Water Wilderness, the $10-million, 3.5-acre theme area planned for Knott’s, 65 of them signed a petition to express their concern about potential noise from the new attraction.

The ride, which is scheduled to open Memorial Day, simulates white-water rapids. That means that as many as 1,500 guests per hour will take the six-minute trip down the river, crashing into lots of boulders, waterfalls, geysers and cliffs--and undoubtedly shrieking as they go.

Late last month, several homeowners who live within 500 feet of the ride presented their petition to the Buena Park City Council, saying they were concerned about noise, how the water would be kept clean and what would happen to the body of water if there were an earthquake.

Within a week, Knott’s officials responded that they would build a 10-foot-tall sound wall of 6-inch-thick masonry, extending past the length of the ride along Western Avenue.

On Thursday, Knott’s spokesman Stuart Zanville and other park representatives took five concerned neighbors on a tour of the construction site and showed them design features intended to minimize noise, earthquake and health risks.

“The rafts float in a recessed channel that’s as much as 4 feet below ground level,” Zanville said after the meeting. Two-thirds of the ride is below the surface, Zanville said. The part that is above ground is between mounds and hills that will absorb sound, he said.

Furthermore, “We’ve anticipated where screaming would be” and built hills and mounds throughout the ride to help soften the sounds.

While at least one resident on the tour was said to be pleased with Knott’s efforts, the park’s assurances weren’t enough for everybody.

“I don’t feel (the 10-foot fence) will keep the noise out,” said Elaine Browning, one of the objecting neighbors. “But we hope they’ll add to it once we get the noise” by extending the wall by as much as 30 feet.

James Hobbs, another nearby resident, said he would like to see Knott’s wall be longer and at least 15 feet tall. “They said the way they design things . . . it will work and take the sounds. . . . But I know it’s not going to come out like they say it will.”

As far as earthquakes, Zanville said, the ride will have an automatic shutdown system and water would drain into an 18-inch-thick holding reservoir. “And we’ll keep the water clean like you would clean a pool, with a solution of chlorine and water.”

Zanville added that Knott’s voluntarily decided to add the sound wall and has complied with Buena Park’s laws and regulations.

“There’s no reason why this shouldn’t be enough,” Zanville said. “There’s no indication that a sound wall is needed at all, so (speculation about a bigger wall) is really premature.”