America the Messy Yard Police State

Scottsdale Noise Law Protect Bar Owners that disturb the peace!

Now Scottsdale bars can distrub our peace all night long!

Kind of like the public records law that applies to government nannies. Since the law doesn't have any criminal or civil penalties the government nannies can break it as much as they want without being worried about criminal or civil charges!

What's wrong with the current laws that make it illegal to disturb the peace?

Probably they could actually force bar owners to stop disturbing the peace of people that live near them or go to jail!

Of course the Scottsdale government nannies wouldn't want that because it would reduce the sales taxes they shake down the bars for.

Source

City close to adopting noise rule for entertainment districts

by Beth Duckett - Sept. 17, 2010 09:23 AM

The Arizona Republic

For years, Scottsdale has wrestled with the task of balancing the city's vibrant nightlife with the need for residents to get a peaceful night's sleep.

A noise ordinance, up for adoption later this month, could encourage businesses to keep the volume low by imposing fines on operators of overly loud bars and nightclubs, supporters say.

The council will consider adopting the ordinance at its Sept. 28 meeting. It would require a $52,700 expenditure for training and equipment to enforce the law.

After two years of groundwork, Scottsdale is poised to join Tempe, San Diego and other cities that regulate noise in lively entertainment districts.

Councilman Wayne Ecton, who wrote the ordinance, said his version represents "the best of both worlds."

"The thing I worry about the most is we don't pass it and we go through another process that takes another year," Ecton said. "Everyone loses on that."

Raun Keagy, Scottsdale's neighborhood resources director, said Scottsdale would like to mimic San Diego's ordinance. The city rarely enforces its ordinance, he said, thanks to a strong rapport between business owners and residents.

"We want to be able to solve things directly with the residents. That is the collaborative approach that I think is going to be very important," Keagy said. [ Double talk for we want to let the bar owners do what every they want while pretending to protect residential areas from their noise! ]

As written now, Scottsdale's ordinance would make it a civil offense, not a criminal offense, to create "unreasonable" noise. Police and code-enforcement officers could use sound meters to determine what is excessive, but they are not required to issue violations.

The ordinance presumes a limit of 68 decibels, which Keagy compared to the level of noise made by a vacuum cleaner 10 feet away, or a gas lawn mower 100 feet away.

Scottsdale would train and certify 28 police officers and 10 code enforcement officers to enforce the law, he said. The $52,700 would help pay for 33 sound-level meters to gauge the volume at liquor and live entertainment establishments throughout the city. [ Hmmm what's with using the current disturbing the peace laws to shut down noisy bar owners? Well I guess that would actually force the bar owners to stop the noise, something the royal rulers of Scottsdale don't want to do! ]

If the ordinance passes, Keagy believes the city could start enforcement in 60 to 90 days.

The proposed law would not regulate noise levels from within "mixed use" areas, such as the downtown district itself, he said.

Police and code enforcement officers would have to take noise readings from within residential districts nearby, where neighbors could potentially hear the noise, he said.

"Historically complaints were coming from . . . the periphery of downtown," Keagy said. "The ordinance was created (so) we protect these folks." [ What a lie! The new law was created to protect noisy bar owners from people who complain that the bar owners are disturbing the peace! ]

Ecton he said he thought that mixed-use areas still would "be covered better" than having no ordinance.

"We would have some guidelines for people to go by that will actually enhance their ability to control noise," Ecton said.

A Downtown Entertainment District Alliance made up of hotels, bars and restaurants, supports Ecton's ordinance, said the group's leader, Andrew Chippindall. [ Damn right they support it. The law allows them to disturb the peace without being punished! ]

The alliance supports a part of the ordinance that allows law enforcement to monitor noise freely, he said.

City leaders, businesses and residents have locked horns on the issue. Some argued that police should respond only to noise complaints, while others support monitoring volume during the normal course of duty.

"Initially we were against the non-complaint driven ordinance," said Chippindall, general manager of the Hotel Valley Ho. "In direct conversation with Councilman Ecton, we now agree . . . that's fair as well."

Many of the alliance members have purchased decibel readers, Chippindall said.

Neighbors have complained about noise in the earliest morning hours.

Resident Jan Haus, 69, said she understands businesses need to make money, but when "their loud music is playing at 2 o'clock in the morning and I'm in my house with all the windows closed, and I can hold up the phone for the policeman on the line and he can hear the loud speaker, that's a little excessive," she said.

Haus, who has lived in her home for 25 years, thought a fine of $2,500 after three violations was not high enough.

"For multimillion-dollar companies and corporations to have a $2,500 fine, that's like me having to pay a penny for doing something wrong," she said. [ Duh! Lady that is because the law is not designed to protect you! Lady the law is designed to protect the bar owners from your complaints! ]

"I don't mind (the noise), but let's call a halt to it at a certain time," Haus said, "like 10:30 or 11 o'clock at night."

Sam Fox, a Scottsdale restaurateur and member of the City's Tourism Development Commission, said the noise issue has been blown out of proportion.

Fox, who opened the Culinary Dropout gastro-pub at the Scottsdale Waterfront in January, said he thinks the ordinance should be more complaint-driven.

"If something is not broken, we don't need to go in and fix everything," Fox said. "Especially in the environment and economy, we could probably spend our money more wisely."

America the Messy Yard Police State