I had heard reports of a potential secret Downtown Naperville Alliance meeting last night. Sure enough after calling the City Clerk’s office this morning I discovered the time and place of this meeting. It was unclear whether or not it was open to the public… but I figured I would go either way. I arrived about 15 minutes early, and sat in the back with my laptop- typing furiously.1:27 PM - People are filing in to the basement room of City Hall, meeting room “AB”. Peter Burchard just arrived and the meeting is about to get underway. The only people I recognize here are the City Manager and Chuck Rizzo, owner/operator of Rizzo’s and his henchman, Chris. (Who just so happen to be sitting right next to me.)1:31 PM - Meeting begins. Peter Burchard is going to do a roll call of everyone in the room. The people at the table are from the planning committee, development team, code enforcement people, police people, VINCE GORTNER, the city prosecutor, and the clerk.1:35 PM - Announced myself as “Eli Hodapp, professional whiner.” There are a ton of people from Jilly’s here sitting in the front row. Peter Burchard is talking about the history of the ordinance and laying out the intent of the meeting. Peter reveals that during the secret squirrel meeting that council members cannot speak during this meeting because it wasn’t truly public with the proper notifications and such.1:38 PM - They are going over the history of the noise ordinance. The ordinance was adopted in 2002. In June of 2002, the business people of the city of Naperville came to the council to ask for the ordinance to be looked at due to the community changes with outdoor seating and other things. City Council formed a group to study and talk about the amplifier ordinance. In late June of 2002, a councilman and a few other people walked around and “felt out” the downtown atmosphere with a decibel meter. At this point, predominant noise in the downtown area was caused by traffic. (3 cell phones have rang so far, classy.) It didn’t make sense at the time to have a decibel limit because of the ambient noise caused by traffic. Instead they decided to make it based on distance in August of 2002How did 100 feet come about? Basically, an outdoor establishment couldn’t be heard from “about” 100 feet. Police department said “I get it, I can’t hear it at 100 feet.” The ordinance was written with the help of the businesses and help of the city.1:42 PM - The amplification ordinance can be broken down in to four categories. Residential, non-residential, downtown area, and downtown area with outside seating. Restaurants and taverns with outdoor seating in downtown area are exempt from permit requirements. Someone from the audience asks, “What defines audible,” and expands on the question regarding music, lyrics, white noise, etc.The prosecutor on the panel retorts, “audible means to be heard.”"If we could hear the music. … Almost all the tickets were from 500 feet away. … I could hear the bass, and I wear hearing aids.” says someone from code enforcement (I think?). The prosecutor continues. The ordinance also restricts time to half an hour before closing. Businesses other than restaurants and taverns with outdoor seating are also exempt from obtaining amplification permits. For these people the limit is 25 feet and the police are using their discretion, have been using 100 feet for all businesses. The other two permits are residential, which require licenses. She’s going on about different types of entertainment, and everyone following the 100 feet audibility limit.1:48 PM - Someone from Jilly’s asks who the ordinance was originally intended to protect. The city’s response is, “The whole downtown, it’s a good neighbor ordinance. It’s a common sense ordinance.” A lot of people come downtown to go to the library, get something to eat, etc. He thinks the 100 feet measurement is a great measurement. Peter Burchard responds about needing purpose and reason behind regulations. Downtown Naperville is a “blended” zoning district. “We all have to live together.” “Should it be different from 100 feet? That’s the argument that comes up.”1:53 PM - No noise reports from retail establishments, according to Peter Burchard. Pokes fun that businesses “fix” the noise problem, then a week or two later they’re back again. Peter thinks the law is there for them to enforce, and “the reality of our world is the enforcement can run hot or cold.” “It’s not something we’re going to stay on morning, noon, and night.” “We issue formal warnings, and this year that didn’t work so well.”1:57 PM - Someone from the audience asks to see the formal reports. The person talking got a ticket, was operating without an issue for five years. He didn’t get any kind of warning. He was one of the people who was on the subcommittee in 2002 to create the ordinance. “At what point are we going to work together as oppose to adversarial?” Peter responds that it is his responsibility to enforce the ordinance- Continues on to say the city is never heavy-handed, and has warned everyone in here. “We’re not standing at 101 feet.”2:01 PM - Someone from Jilly’s is talking about how the Rolling on the River concerts were loud and had no citations issued. He asks, “Who is the ordinance intended to protect?” Vince Gortner responds in a reasonable manner, “Can a reasonable person hear this from 100 feet away?.” “If something is heard from 200 feet away, it’s actually four times as loud.”Vince Gortner is the best.Peter Burchard says, “We don’t enforce speeding with 1 mile an hour over the limit,” and continues his example about how they’re not writing citations at 101 feet. The city council has all kinds of exceptions. “Part of the ordinance is to set a standard. … Every single city council meeting there is an exception that the city council approves. There is an awful lot of flexibility built in today.”2:06 PM - Someone from Jilly’s makes the point that the noise is the whole reason people come to the downtown area. Peter Burchard responds asking “How do you do both?” in regards to enforcing the ordinance, and promoting the vibe. “We’re not hyper enforcing it 100%.”2:08 PM - Chris from Rizzo’s asks how do you determine what is audible from 100 feet away. Vince Gortner responds, “We are the reporters of facts, we bring those facts before a governing body. We want those facts to be reasonable and clear. … Not complicated.” The prosecutor also responds, clarifying the ordinance.2:10 PM - A woman from the audience, reveals her super hero identity as Captain Obvious and suggests the ordinance is reviewed.2:13 PM - Someone from Jilly’s asks for a consistency in the enforcement, Vince Gortner responds that this is his goal and expands on enforcement. “We’re not looking for something faintly audible at 101 feet. … We’re not looking to split hairs over this.” (As a side note, why is this guy a cop? He’s way too smart, way too well spoken, and doesn’t fit the police stereotype at all.)2:16 PM - Peter asks “How many complaints is enough for us to enforce it?”2:20 PM - The man on the panel from citations explains that this isn’t the only noise ordinance which is enforced. There are a whole bunch of ordinances from car stereos to parties in apartment complexes. The man sitting next to him pipes up about how there are regulations in the downtown area to produce a “particular environment.”2:25 PM - Vince Gortner’s turn to talk. “It’s not a safety issue, it’s a quality of life issue. … We’re looking for something that a police officer without any equipment with special training could go out and say yes or no.”Someone from Potter’s shows his numbers are down as much as 33% without a band. “We agree we need to come up with a reasonable number, but you’re costing us money,” he says.2:30 PM - Councilman Rosanova is feeding points to the Potter’s guy saying it’s not just him that’s losing money, but his entire wait staff. A man from Jimmy’s (I think?) says that the city needs to hurry up and do something because he can’t wait three months for something to get changed.2:33 PM - The phrase “slippery slope” was just used!!! ALERT! ALERT!2:37 PM - Someone from the audience says, “Those of you who were cited, you deserved it. This is downtown Naperville, not Bourbon Street.” The audience then goes on to question the panel, mostly rehashing things which have already been gone over. The woman who owns Quigley’s added that “It has been getting louder and louder over the last two years.”2:42 PM - An audience member suggests that in the interim time between now and when/if the ordinance gets changed that they’re allowed to go back to business as usual. The panel gives him a strange look at which point Peter Burchards expands on potentially talking to the police. He doesn’t want to “shoot from the hip.”2:43 PM - Noise ordinance discussion is over, they’re moving on to downtown employee parking.All in all, I’m glad I went. I got a lot of dirty looks, but that was expected.
Aug 07
