Neighborhood Notes

NOISE: WHAT TO DO WHEN IT DRIVES YOU CRAZY!

As residents of an urban environment we know to expect noise of all kinds -- garbage trucks, train whistles, construction. Much of it we can't do anything about. However, what about noise from parties or bands playing at local restaurants or bars? The incredibly loud music coming from the On Deck Sports Bar at 14th and Kearney last Sunday was deafening to residents of The Edge and Marshall Wells. It could also clearly be heard from Bridgeport Condos at 12th and Marshall and Pearl Lofts on 10th Hoyt.

There are several things you can do besides pulling your hair out. First of all, between 10 pm and 7 am noise is not supposed to be audible in residential units. This information comes from the Noise Control Office of the City of Portland (503-823-7350). Even before 10 pm, there are noise limits. You can request that decibel level readings be taken by a Noise Control Officer. Even if all you can do is leave a message after business hours, stating your concern helps the Noise Control Office identify problem situations.

When businesses want to have events that exceed the allowed noise levels they must apply for a noise variance. This is where your watchful eyes and ears can be especially helpful. Before applying for the variance, a business must notify neighbors in surrounding blocks of the event. This may be done by mailing residents a letter or posting a notice in buildings. The notices must include the date and time of the event, the business's contact number to call during the event if there are problems, and the Noise Control Office number. If you have concerns about an upcoming event you should call the Noise Control Office as soon as you are aware of the variance application. If businesses do not post notices they are in violation of city code and can be cited or denied the variance.

Jeff Myers, Senior Neighborhood Officer assigned to the Pearl District by the Portland Police Bureau, advises residents to call the non-emergency police number at 503-823-3333 and request that an officer come to your residence if you are bothered by noise in your unit after 10 pm or believe an earlier event may be in violation of city code and/or a noise variance permit. If the non-emergency number is busy, Jeff says it is ok to call 911; please do this only if you are not able to get through to the other number. If a police officer responds to your call, you can insist that a report be written; make sure the officer includes in the report what s/he can hear. You should also ask for the officer's name or business card.

William Warren, Crime Prevention Specialist for the Office of Neighborhood Involvement (a City of Portland agency), also has helpful information regarding how to deal with unruly and loud patrons of establishments with liquor licenses. If you are bothered by loud voices, fighting in the street, drunks serenading the moon underneath your window, etc. you need to keep a log of the date, time and as much specific information as possible. Then you can file a Time, Place and Manner complaint with Kimberly Mark-Villela, the Liquor Licensing Specialist with the Office of Neighborhood Involvement. The office number is 503-823-3092; her e-mail address is kmarkvillela@ci.portland.or.us. You can file a complaint on-line by going to www.portlandonline.com/oni/, and type "liquor" in the search box. This will lead you to the correct form to fill out and you can track the progress of your complaint through this program. UPDATE: Under pressure from the Oregon Restaurant Association lobby, the Oregon legislature passed a bill at the end of this year's session which eviscerated Portland's power to force businesses that are the subject of alcohol-related complaints to clean up their acts. Governor Kulongoski has 30 days to veto the bill so, if you want to preserve Portland's Time, Place and Manner ordinance please e-mail the governor as soon as possible at representative.citizen@state.or.us. The information below is dependent on the bill being vetoed.

If there are three or more verified (e.g. by a police officer) Time, Place and Manner complaints filed within a 30 day period the Office of Neighborhood Involvement will start an abatement process. First the business owner is asked to sign a Good Neighbor Agreement with the neighborhood association if a GNA is not already in place. The agreement would be monitored by Crime Prevention, Liquor Licensing, Police Officers, the neighborhood association and, most importantly, the neighbors themselves for compliance. If the agreement is not honored the case would be referred to the Noise Control office and the Office of Neighborhood Involvement. Then a code hearing would be held and restrictions could be placed on the business.

What if a business owner who has a liquor license refuses to sign a Good Neighbor Agreement? This is especially pertinent in the case of the On Deck Sports Bar since the owner refused to sign a GNA, even though it is a voluntary agreement that can be tailored to meet the needs of a specific business. If there are at least three verified Time, Place and Manner complaints within 30 days, Kimberly Mark-Villela said that "during the submission process for code hearing it will be annotated that the neighborhood had attempted to work out the issues with the owners and the owners refused the GNA." She added that "No one has the power to make someone sign a GNA. However, that information will not help them in the codes hearing process in the future if it should grow to that level."

What's the bottom line? There's a lot to do besides moving to the burbs. You can call the police, call the noise control office, file a Time, Place and Manner complaint, join the Pearl District Neighborhood Association, www.pearldistrict.org. You can join the Livability Committee of the PDNA, become of a member of the Noise Abatement Sub-Committee, and really have some influence on your ability to enjoy where you've chosen to live.

Sheri Winkelman
Pearl District Neighborhood Association
Livability Committee Chair