No fun

Committee of council approves tighter noise restrictions around outdoor music

Barry Turpin saved his best line until the end of the debate.

“I knew when we opened the noise bylaw, we would get a lot of noise,” quipped the Bloomfield councillor at the end of an hour-long and at times testy debate about setting new limits on noise.

Earlier this year Athol councillor Jamie Forrester asked staff, through a motion of council, to look at ways to maintain “a balance between commercial and residential integration and quality of life.”

Specifically, Forrester was targeting outdoor music events, performances and shows—anything with amplified music outdoors. The current bylaw says such events must be turned off at 2 a.m.

He, and others, feel this is far too late.

“There is a lot more noise in the rural areas,” said Forrester. “People aren’t enjoying life they way they used to.”

He says a lot of former churches and barns are becoming music venues and a nuisance to the neighbours.

Forrester applauded the revision proposed by staff—compelling such events to shut down, or go indoors, by 11 p.m.

That sparked a debate among councillors about what constituted a public gathering.

Ameliasburgh councillor Janice Maynard wanted how far the bylaw intended to reach. A small backyard party with a stereo?

Megan Hutton performs with her brother Caleb as Instant Rivalry in Wellington before the screening of The Tragically Hip concert on Saturday, August 24. Council has decreed that such amplified music gatherings must shut down by midnight.

“I would hate to think I was contravening the bylaw at 11:30 p.m.” said Maynard.

Works commissioner Rob McAuley confirmed that, if passed, such merrymaking would not be permitted outdoors after 11 p.m.

Some councillors began to recoil at the notion that they were creating a “no fun” community.

“This is too restrictive,” said Picton councillor Lenny Epstein. “I can’t support this.”

Ameliasburgh councillor Dianne O’Brien wanted to understand the problem her colleagues were seeking to fix.

“Is noise an issue?” asked O’Brien.

McAuley would not characterize the noise complaints his department fields as a problem but that a certain number of venues had come to their attention repeatedly.

Sophiasburgh councillor Bill Roberts wanted to know about the screening of The Tragically Hip concert in Wellington Park a week ago.

“Would these folks have been forced to shut down after the second encore?” asked Roberts. “How well do you imagine that would have gone over?”

Hallowell councillor Gord Fox lives near the Crystal Palace, a popular venue for weddings and other events featuring amplified music. Fox urged his fellow councillors to remember when when they were young and had fun.

“Who is this bylaw for?” asked Fox. “Everybody over 50?”

By then Forrester was compelled to rescue his amendment.

“The intent is not to stop campfires,” said Forrester. “Not everybody likes to sing and dance to 2 a.m. Eleven is a reasonable time to shut down.”

County staff also used the opportunity of the opened noise bylaw to fix an omission from the 2011 revision dealing with construction noise. They proposed returning language that would restrict construction noise to between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m.

Epstein, sensing the tighter noise restrictions were likely to be approved, sought a compromise. Rather than shut down noise at 11 p.m. he proposed midnight instead.

The committee of council approved his suggestion and approved the bylaw changes. It seems likely, however, the matter will get another airing at council on September 13.