IRVINE – Orange County music fans will get to continue enjoying their local summer outdoor concert tradition in their own backyard at least for the next three years.

In an effort to replace the now-closed Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre, the Irvine City Council on Tuesday, March 14, unanimously approved the building of a temporary 12,000-seat amphitheater adjacent the Orange County Great Park.

“An amphitheater has been a part of this family fabric for years and years so it was a heartbreak when (Irvine Meadows) amphitheater was torn down for all those apartments,” Councilwoman Christina Shea said. “I drive by there and I see that devastation and it just breaks your heart. This is just so nice to see we’re resurrecting the amphitheater and we can bring all of Orange County to Irvine to celebrate live music and just become a family again.”

The temporary amphitheater could open in late summer, in time for the latter half of the concert season, said Steve Churm, spokesman for developer FivePoint, which proposed the project and is overseeing the development of thousands of homes around the Great Park.

“We’re going to have a couple surprises towards the end of the summer,” said Bret Gallagher, president of concert promoter Live Nation Southern California.

Supporters of the project, donning red “#SaveLiveMusicIrvine” T-shirts, packed the council chamber and the City Hall lobby. They included music fans, concert venue workers and local business and political leaders.

All 21 people who addressed the council spoke in favor of the project. They said the new amphitheater will fill the cultural gap left by the Irvine Meadows closure, create jobs in the area and help put Irvine on the map.

“We are excited for Irvine and Orange County that we will continue to see live music,” Churm said after the public hearing. “I think Irvine Meadows has been a destination for musicians for bands for fans. This will continue it. … (In Orange County) we’ll become a major destination for artists, both starting and very established artists. It’s exciting.”

The temporary amphitheater will be built on a private property, owned by FivePoint, at the south end of the runways of the former El Toro Marine Corps Air Station. The location is less than two miles from the former Irvine Meadows, which closed in October after a 35-year run so that the landowner Irvine Co. can build the next phase of its Los Olivos apartment community.

Under FivePoint’s proposal submitted in September, Live Nation, which ran Irvine Meadows, would design and build the new amphitheater and adjacent parking. The Los Angeles-based concert-promoting giant would operate the outdoor venue on the 44-acre land through 2020, while the city figures out a plan to build a permanent amphitheater within the Great Park.

The temporary amphitheater will resemble the America’s Cup Pavilion in San Francisco, an outdoor facility Live Nation built in 2013 for concerts during the international sailing competition. It would feature festival grounds and bleacher, turf and box seating, as well as a VIP area and concession stands.

Live Nation would schedule about 35 concerts per year, most of which would take place on weekend evenings between June and October. Proposed conditions require concerts to end by 11 p.m.

City staff determined that the construction and operation of the amphitheater would not have much impact on area traffic, noise, light and glare. However, Mayor Pro Tem Lynn Schott said she is worried about added traffic in the area, especially when sporting and other events coincide with the concerts.

The amphitheater will be accessible from Chinon via Irvine Boulevard and from Great Park Boulevard via Sand Canyon Avenue or Jeffrey Road.

The site will have a 4,000-space parking lot. Parking cost would be included in the ticket price, according to the staff report. The location is about 1,000 feet from the Irvine train station, and FivePoint wants to create a walking path from the station to the amphitheater.

The city could receive at least $20,000 to $30,000 from on-site sales tax if the temporary amphitheater performs similarly to Irvine Meadows. The amphitheater will employ up to about 400 people, according to the staff report.

FivePoint and Live Nation will bear the cost of police services for the concert venue.

For years, Irvine city leaders have discussed building an amphitheater as part of the yet-to-be-developed, 248-acre Cultural Terrace area of the Great Park, along with a lake, a library and museums. However, the city can’t develop the Cultural Terrace because Tierra Verde Industries has the lease to operate a recycling facility on the site until 2018.

Councilwoman Shea and Councilman Jeff Lalloway said Tuesday they both support building of a permanent amphitheater at the Great Park. Lalloway added the council should discuss the permanent venue plan soon.

Contact the writer: tshimura@scng.com