Noise vs. Neighbors: Downtown residents, music venues clash

| ANDY BRONSON THE BELLINGHAM HERALD

• READ THE LAWS
  
  Check the links below to see how the City of Bellingham's noise ordinance compares to similar ordinances in Everett and Olympia, plus state laws:

  • Bellingham
  • Olympia. Click "search," and enter codes 09.16.020, 08.24.020 and 08.32.000.
  • Everett.
  • State RCW: Click here and here.
  • Washington Administrative Code.

  
  NOISE COMPLAINTS
  
  Click on the links below to read:

  • Noise complaints against the Green Frog Acoustic Cafe.
  • A citizen's complaint about the siting of the Green Frog.
  • Noise complaints against the Wild Buffalo.
  • A citizen's complaint to the city about its noise ordinance.
  • Cornwall-Commerical Neighbors complaint against the Hookah Lounge.
• Noise ordinances vary among state’s cities
• Downtown resident takes on music venues
• From 1989: Council Oks anti-noise ordinance
• From 1989: City likely to pull the plug on loud stereos, parties

“If I have 70 people in my bar having fun and being entertained and they have every right to be there … they should not be affected by the one person,” Hardesty said.

As the city promotes residential growth downtown, more people are moving into apartments and condos that border bustling nightclubs, bars and music venues.

Many business owners say Bellingham’s noise ordinance is giving those residents too much power, allowing even one caller to prompt repeated police visits for noise complaints. Those visits can result in lowering sound systems or cutting a band’s set short, stifling business — and Bellingham’s nightlife culture — owners say.

“It’s usually one or two people that just can’t deal (with the music),” said John Goodman, 53, owner of Wild Buffalo, a venue on Holly Street. “Even though 90 percent of the neighbors don’t care, a small percentage is all it takes to make your life hell, and that is a problem.”

ORDINANCE DETAILS

Under the ordinance, police must respond to each complaint and judge whether noise disturbs “the peace and repose” of a caller. Many business owners, musicians and fans say the definition is too subjective to determine whether a business should receive a first citation of $250.

“It’s not just rushing out there and slapping a ticket down,” said Bellingham Police Deputy Chief of Operations David Doll. “Giving you a ticket isn’t going to solve the problem. We try to be proactive.”

Doll said officers work hard to discuss options that would dampen noise and reduce complaints. According to complaint records, police often respond to complaints multiple times before issuing a citation, even when they find the noise unreasonable.

But the same records show that venues often deal with a half dozen or more officers as complaints continue. Owners say that makes it difficult to rely on continuity in enforcement.

Several venue owners said police receive criticism that should be directed at the noise ordinance they enforce.

“The police weren’t eager to give me a ticket,” said Josh Magnes, 28, who owned La Piñata restaurant for several years until its closure in 2004. “(Frequent police response) was just a waste of the city’s resources.”

According to records, a single resident across the street from the Commercial Street restaurant called police about noise at La Piñata 20 times in a yearlong period. No other caller made any complaint against the business.

“It was just absurd,” said Magnes, who said the complaints were “the icing on the cake” as he decided to close the business instead of renovating the aging building. “There are 200 people enjoying the music and one guy trying to sleep across the street. It doesn’t make any sense in a commercial district.”

THE DOOR PROBLEM

Often, police reports show, residents say noise is acceptable when venues keep their doors closed. But owners say closing doors on big crowds can overheat customers.

Hardesty was arrested on investigation of disorderly conduct when he refused to turn the music down or shut the door to the Green Frog last May. Police describe Hardesty as polite and compliant in earlier reports detailing more than a dozen visits for noise complaints.

“In the summer, when it’s hot in there, I’m going to open the door again,” Hardesty said. “That’s when they start complaining. I have AC, but when you get 70 people in a small room AC doesn’t always keep up.”

Anna Konopka, 51, called police eight times in two months complaining of noise at The Factory, a rock venue on State Street that closed in 2005, according to police reports.

“I always felt bad that I was the wicked witch across the street,” she said. “If you’re going to live in a building in a district where there are bars you’re going to have to accept a certain level of noise. The problem was that if they kept the door shut you could live with it. If people can’t sleep across the street, that’s still unacceptable.”

SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS

Many businesses and music fans say setting a decibel level would make it easier to determine what constitutes a violation. But measuring sound can be difficult, police warn.

“What device do you use? Do you need specially trained people to use it? Where do you take the noise level?” Doll said. “Let’s say we decide a certain number of decibels, what about fluctuation?”

Goodman of the Wild Buffalo favors setting a decibel level but said the city should be careful with specifics. “It depends on when and where (police) take the reading,” he said. “It could work to the detriment of the club or to its advantage.”

Other owners suggested creating a zone encompassing the Central Business District that would specify times when noise is acceptable, taking into account the commercial nature of the area.

Longtime City Councilwoman Louise Bjornson would like to see interested community members hold meetings to discuss noise issues and options.

“If community members have some thoughtful improvements (to the noise ordinance), I’d certainly be willing to look at it,” she said. “We have to look at respecting each other’s needs. We want people to enjoy downtown.”

Doll said bars and apartments in the Central Business District should be held to a higher construction standard to cancel as much noise as possible.

“If you’re going to have a live music venue, you need to put things into place so you can absorb that noise so it won’t be a quality-of-life issue for someone who’s living next door,” Doll said. “The same thing is true for the apartments.”

Richard Hartnell, 25, cofounder of the Bellingham Downtown Alliance for Music and Nightlife, said the city should consider providing incentives for developers to construct buildings that dampen noise.

Magnes, however, said tougher construction regulations could put an undue burden on business owners who rent aging downtown buildings.

Hardesty said that following repeated noise complaints he now uses a decibel meter to monitor music sound levels outside his bar.

“More than decibel readings, (the noise ordinance should require) more than one person calling,” he said. “There need to be three or four people calling in the same evening. The police need to be able to make the decision based on more than just one opinion.”

DISCUSSION NEEDED

Goodman said he saw noise complaints — nearly all of them from the same nearby tenant, according to records — drop drastically after calm communication with police and neighbors.

“I sent out a message to everyone in the whole area and hand-signed each one,” he said. “I asked them to call me first and gave out my cell phone number. I did double back flips to keep the neighbors happy and it worked.”

Police, business owners and residents agreed that civil communication toward a compromise is badly needed.

“If you’re going to have multi-use areas, which I highly believe in, there needs to be some kind of a law that makes it possible for everyone to coexist,” Konopka said. “Joe Blow that lives downtown isn’t aware that he has options to call his city councilman. There needs to be a mechanism by which everyone can be aware there are problems and work to solve them.”

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