Austin Music Commission's Town Hall Meeting Notes

Skeletor playing drums, found on Joystiq.com

Last night's town hall meeting on the proposed noise ordinance changes drew a record turnout at Momo's, bringing out a crowd that consisted mostly of local venue owners, musicians, and longtime residents.

As we mentioned yesterday, the meeting was held to discuss a proposal put forth by the Austin City Planning Commission that would basically lower the decibel (dB) rating for music venues from the current limit, 85 dB, to anywhere between 70-75 dB, depending on time and location. Because decibels are based on a logarithmic scale (think Richter), the 10 dB change actually represents a much larger difference of 50%. The Austin Music Commission, a separate board of volunteers who act as liaisons between the community and the City Council, hosted the meeting, and were quick to point out that they weren't the ones behind this proposal. They seemed, in fact, staunchly opposed to it.

The meeting started off with a demonstration of how Austin police would normally take a decibel reading if they responded to a noise complaint. Two simulated exercises were performed, first with only the outside patio speakers on, and second with both indoor and outdoor speakers blaring. An APD officer took readings from the back of the patio, meant to represent the average distance to a venue's property line; both simulations yielded sound levels far below the current limit, but Momo's sound system seemed at times barely able to keep up with the level of rock that would adequately replicate an outdoor show.

Mayor Wynn showed up to deliver a quick speech before the public was invited to voice their grievances. He stressed need to support the 8,000+ working musicians in our city—because, as he put it, "cities that are more fun are going to better economically."—while concurrently enabling as many residents to live in or near the urban core as possible. Pointing out the relative minority of actual owner-occupied venues, Wynn ominously predicted that most "won't be around forever," and went so far as to suggest incorporating new music venues into the developments cropping up around town—our friend sarcastically commented that if this was the case, only the likes of Charles Attal would be able to afford to run a venue in town. Wynn finished, to considerable applause, by suggesting that things would be better if downtown condo residents would just "get their asses off the sofa and go listen to live music."

Afterwards, over a dozen community members each took to the stand to present their side of the debate. Many of the proposal's opponents focused their anger on the condo-dwellers relocating into the city; one gentleman hilariously likened it to a NASCAR fan deliberately moving next to a racetrack and then whining about the noise that the cars made. Others pointed out that this noise restriction would be equally violated if applied to other things, like the crowd at a UT football game, the collective roar of Cap Metro buses, or even the giant fans at the back of the downtown Whole Foods.

Supporters of the proposal were few and far between, but a small handful did muster up enough courage to get in front of the microphone, despite feisty heckling from the audience—one fellow, fist pumping vigorously in defiance, was heard shouting "Rock and Roll! Rock and Roll will never die!" Both of the supporters we managed to hear were longtime residents of South Congress; one woman, who's lived in her current house since 1991, wanted the outdoor live music in her neighborhood banned altogether, and it was clear that even a 50% reduction in sound would do little to assuage her. Another, who lived directly in back of Botticelli's, simply wanted to reach a more reasonable compromise on late-night music performances at the restaurant's back area. As far as we could tell, no downtown residents showed up to voice any complaints, which reinforced our suspicion that these much-harangued condo dwellers aren't the ones causing such a fuss.

At least not yet.

Towards the end of the meeting we ran into Austin Music Foundation Executive Director Suzanne Quinn, who hinted that the City Planning Commission may now be reconsidering the structure of the noise proposal, which, in its current form, takes an absurd slash-and-burn approach to solving a problem that only exists in small pockets of town—and none of them in downtown itself. A City Council-appointed task force could likely soon emerge to further investigate the issue in a much broader scope, and hopefully separate it into its two actual (and divergent) components. The easier one is the very real, but solvable, problem of live music bleeding out into residential neighborhoods like South Austin.

Then there's the other, more complicated concern—downtown growth encroaching upon existing venues, which is itself merely a subset of the whole urban development dramedy that we keep coming back to.

In this case, venue owners and musicians are right to suspect that they're getting screwed—because they totally are. And until the city can fix the fragmented nature of the so-called "Entertainment District" (special areas, like the Warehouse District, East Sixth Street, and Red River can be granted certain exemptions from the noise ordinance, but only if they're officially acknowledged as being part of the nebulous ED) and until the venue owners finally rally and establish some sort of functional political action committee, we'll see this problem continue to resurface every few years.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@austinist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Allen Y Chen in Arts & Entertainment, News on November 6, 2007 12:39 PM 0 Comments

Comments [rss]

Joel Nihlean

Shadylady,

you make a good point.

Tangential to that, remember when Redriver back around 2000 and prior? Back then there weren't really many clubs to speak of down there. Blue Flamingo/Purgatory, Atomic Cafe and a gaggle of crackheads was all there was to see. Back then we referred to Redriver as crack alley.

So, I guess what I am saying is, "Growth" and "Progress" are great from your relative perspective.

I'm glad most of the crackheads are gone (even if it is just around the corner) and I'm sure the people complaining about the noise from the entertainment districts will be glad when we are gone (even if it's just around the corner).

shadylady

i've worked and played on red river for over eight years and am outraged at the amount of time and energy officials focus on noise complaints and club capacity issues when my friends are getting mugged at gunpoint, assaulted, countless cars are getting broken into, and the main place to find or do drugs in town is only one block from the city jail.

the CRIME downtown poses more of a threat than a few noise complaints...

mdahmus

Sean,

That's what I thought. Good work.

Heyzeus,

That's also what I thought. It's abundantly clear that the main source of complaints is from residents of single-family houses in the close-in neighborhoods, NOT the oft-reviled condo dweller.

heyzeus

I know 4 current downtown residents, and a fifth who is moving in soon. All 5 fit the same description of Cram: Young professional, loves bars/restaurants/shows downtown, hates driving, won't drive drunk, doesn't want a house and yard to take care of, goes out 4+ nights a week.

By and large, that's who's moving in downtown. That's why you aren't seeing condo dwellers piss and moan about noise, because they're out there enjoying it. That, and if you're on say the 5th floor or higher, you don't hear much noise unless you're on your balcony.

Sean_Sallier

Save the photo and change it in your profile. However I doubt it will appear any time prior to whatever post amount/limit they set in order for certain options to be applicable.

Cortez

I didnt read this b/c it seems really long. What i want to know is there anyway to get Skeletor playing the drums by my name instead of this panda? AYC? Please? Pretty please?

Sean_Sallier

MD,

"those codo-dwellers don't have the balls the get up and speak." is what I used to characterize you (incorrectly?) as one of the many people who thinks the condo-dwellers are ruining Austin. Please let me know how I got this wrong.

Me pointing out that no one got up representing them does not constitute that. It is apparent that you feel victimized by this and I am not your therapist so I cannot help you figure out all of your wrongful judgments of people. I was there and I didn't see anyone who looked like Paul McCartney (i.e. your avatar) so I'm guessing that your guilt stems from more than just your dwelling.

seth

If the city assigns enforcement to the same crew responsible for policing the smoking ban, then club owners won't have anything to worry about on this front, either.

Seth

mdahmus

Sean,

"those codo-dwellers don't have the balls the get up and speak." is what I used to characterize you (incorrectly?) as one of the many people who thinks the condo-dwellers are ruining Austin. Please let me know how I got this wrong.

cram

I won't deny the fact that there are asshole pro-gentrification condo dwellers who honestly do believe downtown would be more livable without live music. There are probably a number of them who would support the ordinance being discussed.

But, the vast majority of people who are making very expensive real estate investments downtown are choosing to do so because they want to live closer to the current downtown. They aren't living in a pipe dream that in 10 years downtown will have transformed drastically other than it being dense enough to support a real supermarket.

People like myself and my neighbors bought condos because our activity in the downtown nightlife/music scene would be significantly less if we had to drive around. Just this past week, places like Room 710 and Red 7 reaped the benefit. I didn't have to debate going to see bands play on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday because no matter how lazy I was those nights, it's a couple block walk and not a drive with parking, etc. And you better believe that the money I save on gas + parking inevitably winds up being consumed in the form of an extra couple beers + tips since I don't have to drive home drunk.

I suppose I could also be the mythical non-smoking downtown condo owner who goes out to see live music all the time.

Sean_Sallier

"...squarely on you condo-whiners, I'd say..."

How is it that you classify me in this category again? Seems pretty self righteous of you considering I've not said a damn word along those lines.

mdahmus

Sean, at this point the burden of proof is pretty squarely on you condo-whiners, I'd say.

cram, I'd agree; I hear a lot more noise from idiots with accidentally or purposefully broken mufflers than I do from music, and I live amongst college students.

uselessgoo

East Austin could sure use some condos.....

heyjude

I think the musicians in Austin have smoked too much dope--they are so apathetic and seem to think "it could never happen, maaaannnn....."

Believe me, don't take it for granted. I live in LA, and I would give my eye teeth to be back where I belong. The rest of the world is ugly, dumb,and rude.

cram

To Stubbs' credit -- probably because of the existing noise ordinances -- most of their outside shows end by 11pm. It's actually a nice change of pace to see a show, have it end early, and go grab a beer down the street.

Also, having lived downtown for almost 5 years, I can tell you that the noise isn't coming from live music venues. There's a certain level of noise bleed from non-traditional venues on 6th depending on the cloud cover, which way the wind is blowing, how the speakers are angled that night, whatever. But most of the noise comes from motorcycles/cars with no mufflers and bars dumping glass bottles into empty dumpsters.

I made a decision years ago to invest in property downtown because walking -- and not driving drunk -- home from what I love most (Red River shows, SXSW, etc) is more important than a quiet house in the suburbs or country. Most of my neighbors/hallway folks feel similarly and aren't in favor of quieting bands (those people wind up moving out/selling their property).

Sean_Sallier

Mdahmus in regards to Joel; those codo-dwellers don't have the balls the get up and speak. Another radical idea would be to not move next door to the music if you're going to cry about the noise.

mdahmus

Joel, did you miss the part where Allen pointed out that nobody complaining seemed to be one of those condo-dwellers anyways? It's old people in old houses, mainly, and to an extent they're complaining about a 'problem' which has existed in the same way for decades (i.e. Stubbs isn't new, yet the people in my neighborhood somehow manage to use the new construction downtown as a tool to complain about the noise that bounces up the creek bed once in a while).

Here's a radical idea, which paints me as old: outdoor music should be done earlier in the day. What the hell's wrong with an outdoor show from 6-10 instead of from 8-12? Even when I was 25 and was spending the time and money on music, I'd have enjoyed the 6-10 show more than the 8-12 one.

Joel Nihlean

Lowering the sound level is not sensible. True, not every band needs to blast their amps at eleven, but for some kinds of music it is totally appropriate to be loud, sloppy and off the wall.

Those are the kind of shows that happen at many redriver bars and are the kind of show that you should not have conversations during either.

If anything, better sound proofing of condos is needed. Duh! They built in an entertainment district(read:loud)!

Also, better sound proofing at clubs is needed and entertainment districts should receive and exemption from Draconian sound ordinances. They meant to benefit people who have no business living in an entertainment district anyway.

AcesHigh

The meeting was informative and brought out a lot of details about how the noise ordinance will be enforced. Lowering the sound levels is sensible move but I'm concerned about the enforcement. Apparently police don't need a complaint to make a citation. I think the proposal for lowering the db should be coupled with a provision to first ensure that someone is being bothered by the noise.

spee

...just another day in the "Live Music Capital of the World," right? Jeez. In a town full of so many musicians, venue owners, booking agents and other music industry professionals, you would think we'd have a more coagulated group of people who retaliated with crushing force when economic threats such as this rose to the surface. If that were the case, this wouldn't even be news.

Perhaps if the Austin music community banded together and sought out new ways of monetizing the industry in this town, news ways of giving it real economic presence, artists and club-owners wouldn't have to put up with this silly nonsense. The fact that this issue is even news is merely proof that Austin's music community is shockingly under-developed and fragmented.

We need to start a union. Heheh...