Mar 20, 2008 6:23 pm US/Central
Mpls. Looks For Better Way To Enforce Club Noise
(WCCO)
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Some neighborhoods get a few complaints, but others like the seven corners area near the U of M get a lot.
CBS
It's a lot harder to file a noise complaint in Minneapolis these days because a big part of the city noise ordinance was ruled unconstitutional by a Hennepin County District Court.
Now, the state's largest city is trying to rewrite the noise rules before the busy, and often loud, summer season.
Under the old ordinance a police officer could use his judgment to determine if a noise is too loud.
Now, a judge's ruling has changed that.
The noise pulses from the warehouse district clubs -- a sound that fills the sidewalks and nearby condos.
One document said Trocaderos Nightclub was sighted five times in 2006 for noise violation and that it was threatened with the loss of their license. Trocaderos fought back arguing the noise violations were based on opinion, not fact. A judge agreed and threw out the ordinance as unconstitutional.
Now city administrators are having to rewrite much of the city noise laws.
"We want to make sure that we move it along as quickly as possible, but without sacrificing accuracy," said Daniel Huff of the city's Environmental Services.
The new regulations will likely require that noise violations be measured, just as a city inspector measures the noise at an intersection near city hall with a decibel meter.
However, measuring sound this way is tedious. The inspector is supposed to record the noise reading every 10 seconds for at least six minutes and then get an average of the decibel reading.
Some neighborhoods get a few complaints, but others like the seven corners area near the U of M get a lot.
The city must now decide how best to gather complaints of noise violations to protect the public without violating the court ruling.
This court ruling will likely mean that someone making a noise complaint from their home or apartment will have to have an inspector come to their home with a decibel meter and measure the sound from their home.
The city is in the process drafting the new noise regulations, those will likely be presented to the full city council for a vote sometime in April.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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