Hi, neighbors.
*There are 41 of us on this ‘action listserv'. If each of us signed a
petition and got a handful of neighbors to do the same, we could easily
have a list of 100 people to share with the city staff and council members
before they vote (or decide to send the draft ordinance for more work) on
Tuesday. *
That would make a huge impact!
From what it took to prepare to speak at the public hearing, I have
distilled in a petition my best effort to represent what would address the
neighborhood’s needs related to amplified noise. Thank you to Lauren, Erin,
and Malcolm for helping me try to capture something that could continue to
educate city officials who are involved in creating a new ordinance.
Please consider signing it and asking five of your neighbors to as well. I
have provided cut and paste language below that you can use to pass it
along. If I can give you anything else to make this easy for you or help
you answer questions, let me know.
Krista
Midwood and Dennis
—-----------------------------------------------------
CUT AND PASTE LANGUAGE:
As you may know, about 25 neighbors attended a public hearing on a new
noise ordinance on Tuesday of this week. We are now trying to deliver 100
signatures to our Corey Branch, our City Council representative by Monday. This
petition is an attempt to represent what would address the neighborhood’s
needs related to noise that carries directly into our neighborhood from
Bowstring Pizza. Will you sign it by clicking here
<https://c.org/vhqrkm9zWW>? You can read about the issue below.
Even if you do not hear music from Bowstring, please consider signing it.
Why? The ordinance will apply across the whole city and, with the amount of
development happening around us, it is likely we will have more music
venues within earshot soon.
The purpose of the petition is to try to educate city officials about why
the draft ordinance will not change our hearing music at loud volumes and
far distances from the source. It is the culmination of months of
conversations with neighbors, reading all the material provided ahead of
the public hearing and participating in it. If you would like to be
involved with 41 neighbors who are working on this issue, let me know and
you can join a listserv subthread dedicated to the topic.
About the Petition
Click here to access it. <https://c.org/vhqrkm9zWW>
The phrasing of the petition is meant to match that of the draft ordinance
and the sound consultant’s report which informed it. If you would like to
read through the draft ordinance, it is attached here.
Here’s the basics:
-
The draft ordinance has requirements for how many decibels amplified
music can be played at when measured from its source.
-
The problem is that the topography between Bowstring and this
neighborhood is ideal for carrying sound - we are each on ridges with a
creek corridor in the middle at a lower elevation and there is nothing in
between to absorb, reflect, or reduce the sound except the friction of air.
-
It’s a difficult situation for everybody involved but what we are trying
to avoid is a noise ordinance that would give us no recourse if Bowstring,
or any other venue that is currently or will in the future be around us,
decides not to try to address the effects of the landscape
-
With the sound ordinance the way it is currently drafted, when I hear
live music from my bedroom (which I do), I can complain (which I hate
spending my time on) but as long as it is measuring at an allowable decibel
level at the source, it will be allowable under the ordinance.
-
The ordinance as it is currently drafted also allows venues to apply for
a permit to go to a higher decibel level.