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Club owners warned to turn down music
By HARLAN WEIKLE
| Article published on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2009 |
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INDIAN ROCKS BEACH – Years of complaining, cajoling and ordinance tweaking came to a head Tuesday, Nov. 10, as the Indian Rocks Beach City Commission, led in a charge by Commissioner Terry Wollin, set the stage for a showdown with club owners.
Turn it down or turn it off seemed to be the mood as residents applauded and cheered what they sensed was at last a chance to achieve peace and quiet in their community.
What began last month as a quiet request by the commission to City Manager Chuck Coward and staff to research the city’s noise ordinance compliance quickly grew into a noisy demand by supporters for a three-month moratorium on amplified music played outdoors and a renewed determination to enforce the hours of operation for all clubs in IRB.
After listening to a long litany of resident complaints about the excesses of amplified bass, loud percussion and late hour jam sessions, Wollin took center stage. Quoting state statutes she read, “Local jurisdictions have the responsibility to protect residents from excessive or intrusive noise pollution. We’ve listened long enough to people begging us to do something.”
She was interrupted by applause.
“Do you have a recommendation?” Mayor RB Johnson asked.
“I do,” Wollin replied, “Amplified music indoors, acoustic only outdoors ...”
More applause.
In the end there were a few back-and-forths about enforcement, decibel readings and what constitutes acoustic music versus amplified and “spill out” from indoor sources, but then all agreed that come Tuesday, Dec. 8 – the next regularly scheduled meeting – city officials would be prepared to state their municipal noise ordinance intentions in a clearly defined and duly proposed ordinance.
“We should be aware that the business owners will most likely be unhappy with this decision,” Johnson said. “But if that were not the case then they would already have acceded to existing rules.”
Responding to the suggestion that the city already had the power to enforce code restrictions using the licensing provision Johnson cautioned, “We don’t want to go thermonuclear here, we still must be sensitive to their business needs.”
Observation pier approved
In other action, the city approved a project to be funded by the community’s Gulf Boulevard beautification organization Action 2000. The group proposes construction of an observation pier, a window of sorts in the 800-foot wall that forms the eastern edge of Gulf Boulevard where it transects the Yacht Basin at Sixth Avenue, just north of Walsingham.
The opening, about 25-feet wide, would allow for a view of the Intracoastal Waterway along the canal approach from the east. A 5-foot deep deck will offer an unprecedented view of the sunrise, visually connecting the beachfront to the eastern waterway.
Jim Labadie of A2K said the window and observation pier would be, “The biggest project we have ever done. By allowing an observer to view at once both the Gulf to the west and the Intracoastal to the east, it will reinforce the sense that we live on an island.”
Several residents living along the canal raised objections to the project, citing an increase in traffic noise and pollution from road debris swept into the basin. About 25 feet of mangrove would have to be removed to afford an unobstructed view of the water from the proposed observation deck. Mangrove is a natural barrier to sound as well as wave action and filters debris from land sources before it reaches open water.
The project proposal was accepted and passed unanimously by the commission.
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Article published on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2009
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