According to this article in the Farmington Independent, a recent grand opening party at the newly revamped Farmington Legion, now called Tailgaters, has raised residents NIMBY hackles and as a result the Council want to look into making sure these complaints stop through a noise ordinance.
From the article:
Council members got complaints both Friday and Saturday when outside events were held at Tailgaters as part of the new business’s grand opening celebration. Bands played outside both evenings.
Farmington police chief Brian Linquist said the police department received six to eight complaints on Friday, but by Tuesday morning, he had not seen any from Saturday’s event, which featured the 80s cover band Hairball. However, Farmington mayor Todd Larson received three email complaints and one phone call over the weekend, and council member Jason Bartholomay reported receiving 10 to 12 calls, as well.
The article provides no details on the hours the bands played or what time the calls came in but one has to wonder how many of them were after a reasonable hour. For a town which is quite desperate to attract customers to its town through a series of events, you would think the City Council would be a little less inclined to act over a theoretical max of 20 complaints out of 21,000+ residents.
The Farmington Independent provided an editorial on the subject which gave a cursory examination of the cost of ordinance development and enforcement. The conclusion was that it wouldn’t be terribly high cost but that because these sorts of events happen so infrequently in Farmington and with a City Council looking to cut costs, this may not be a really attractive option at this time. I have to agree. Yes, it could be done and has been done in other areas. But when the city is already struggling to attract new people to spend money within its borders, it’s definitely not worth the complaints of 0.09% of the population, is it? The sensible thing to do would be to have the police visit the place and tell them to cool it. No, there is no ordinance which can provide a pathway to fines and jail time but out of respect for the people around you, tone it done some, ok? Being that the Farmington PD received no complaints for Saturday it would appear that either Friday’s band was awful and people preferred Saturday or a few properly placed calls to the bar’s ownership/management got them to keep it a little more on the down-low.
What do you think about this one? Should Farmington spend the time creating an ordinance to resolve an issue which doesn’t happen all that often within the town’s limits and didn’t create complaints from many people? What hours do you think are appropriate for such events? Would you have called and when/why would you have? Whatever you have to say about this one go ahead and comment on below.
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August 27th, 2012 at 8:46 am
Farmington already has an ordinance about noise, they just don’t enforce it. If you call the police and complain about the noise the officer will tell you that the event has a permit and that they can make as much noise as they want as late as they want. Therefore people don’t waste their time calling in complaints.
The band was Hairball and the outdoor concert was, as always, astonishingly loud. The councilmember who brought up the noise level lives several miles away. From our house it sounded like the neighbor kid rolling in the driveway with the windows down and the stereo playing full blast except the neighbor eventually turns off the car and goes into the house.
There is a large townhouse development right by Tailgaters/ the old Legion and I have no doubt that no one slept until the concert ended, about 12:30 or so. To be honest, I have always been a little surprised that out of complete and utter despair no one has ever gone over and shot out the speakers. It’s really that loud.
But have no fear, nothing will ever be done. A few months ago a friend sent an email to council once again complaining about the local late night noise and a council member replied, copying a vast array of elected officials in the area, that my friend either needs to shut the front door or move out of town.
August 27th, 2012 at 1:56 pm
We were looking at houses behind Tailgaters earlier this year. All I can say is that I’m glad we didn’t up over there.
August 27th, 2012 at 2:09 pm
Don’t most cities limit night-time outdoor events with amplified music to maybe 2x per year? I can’t imagine someone could get a permit for bands to play outside every weekend unless they were out in the country.
August 27th, 2012 at 6:49 pm
Farmington has no noise ordnance per say. They have ordinances that wrap them selves around automobile noise, and construction noise. But nothing particular regarding amplified sound like Minneapolis or St. Paul may have.
Typically what cities do is require a permit for amplified sound, placing restrictions by default limiting the use to areas far from schools or churches that may be in service as well as limited to no later than 10pm. Then if you want to go beyond that time period you have to get an exception permit that is given by higher level officials in the city, requiring more discussion.
I would hope that the city and the particular business could chat a bit and resolve it without having to create a new level of regulation that thus far the city hasn’t needed. If businesses can just be smart and self regulate to a point, the city won’t need to step in.
August 27th, 2012 at 8:39 pm
While the number of complaints are small compared to the number of residents, that likely is not an accurate reflection of the number of people who were bothered by the outside event. If someone called in the past and the result was that they were told, “it is a Council approved event” or “The City needs to support businesses, so we won’t stop the noise even though the residents complain” it is likely the resident will not call again. I disagree that Farmington needs to support businesses because businesses are currently not flocking to the community. If the Council continues to allow businesses to conduct activities that disturb the neighborhood residents, the residents will eventually move out. There needs to be a balance. An outdoor event with blasting band music until 12:30 a.m. is not reasonable. Most cities have festivals with sponsored outdoor music, but typically they end by 10 or 11 p.m. and it is a city-wide and city sponsored event. This is a private business doing what it wants to attract business – good for them – but disregarding the impact on their neighboring residents. Do you think any of those residents upset are likely to stop in for a quick drink or meal when the business disregarded their right to a reasonable end to the loud outdoor music? Lost business more likely. Or the Council lets it continue and Farmington builds a reputation that is a good party town but not a good quiet place to live and raise a family.
August 28th, 2012 at 8:25 am
6-1-32: LOUD SPEAKERS OR SOUND TRUCKS:
It shall be unlawful to play, operate, or use any device known as a sound truck, loud speaker or sound amplifier, radio or phonograph, with loud speaker or sound amplifier or any instrument of any kind or character which emits loud and raucous noises and is attached to and upon any vehicle unless such person in charge of such vehicle shall have first applied to and received permission from the Chief of Police to operate any such vehicle so equipped.
6-1-18: DISTURBING THE PEACE:
It shall be unlawful for any person, wilfully, maliciously, intentionally or unnecessarily, to disturb the peace and quiet of another or of any neighborhood or family or religious congregation or other assembly by loud or unusual noises or indecent behavior or by offensive or unbecoming conduct or for any person to threaten, quarrel, fight or provoke an assault or battery or curse or swear or utter any obscene or vulgar or indecent language in the presence of another. (1970 Code)
Either of these might apply. Both are Farmington ordinances. 61-1-32 is inartfully constructed, however, and seems to limit itself only to sound systems attached to vehicles, despite the title.
August 28th, 2012 at 3:05 pm
My point is only this, if the city, the business, and the citizens can come to an agreement without having add additional regulation it’s a good thing. If you read the full story you see that this is what has been done in the past at that property.
My WAG is that 6-1-32 was written either back when Pump-Up-The-Volume was released back in the 90′s as an attempt to quell high school teen rebellion, or when someone finally got sick of those rebel electronic horns that became popular when The Dukes of Hazard TV show as on.
September 3rd, 2012 at 3:25 pm
I know the outdoor concerts at Tailgaters/Legion are loud. You can hear them clearly a mile away if you are outside. It is unfortunate that this business is adjacent to three residential areas where residents could be disturbed.
In the past, the legion would only do this type of event a couple of times a year. For Tailgaters this was their grand opening weekend.
It was a truly great event. My wife and I went and we saw several friends and neighbors who also went to the event. There was a large crowd there (thousands) and most were Farmington city residents. Many folks walked home or car pooled after having several drinks. There were also some busses for sober rides.
I wish I had looked at the time but I am pretty sure it was done before midnight. I know we got home early. The music started on time and ended without the band taking extra encores.
What ever is done to control these types of events, I would just ask that the same ordinances, permits, and enforcement are used for all similar events without prejudice: The annual concert put on by the Rotary club in the Fairgrounds; the Dakota County Fair music tent and beer garden; the demolition derbies; and the downtown events during Dew Days.
September 5th, 2012 at 7:47 am
Another concert at Tailgaters/Legion scheduled for this Saturday night. Clearly the concerts were not just for the grand opening.
September 5th, 2012 at 8:16 am
It was interesting to browse Tailgaters Facebook page. I didn’t see any comments about noise.. Either they deleted them, or the noise wasn’t really that big of an issue. Regardless, hopefully the business contacted the city to see what could be to reduce the noise “problem” and this coming weekend will be less of an issue.
September 5th, 2012 at 9:21 am
I will keep my ears open this Saturday and see if I can hear it from where I’m at. I’m off of 195th Street, only 1.5 miles as the crow flies from Tailgaters. It wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibilities, provided their audio rig is powerful enough and if the right weather conditions exist (temperature and humidity).