Public hearing should focus on noise ordinance, not Bel Air complaints, committee says

A public hearing Nov. 30 should not simply be a forum for Cape Girardeau residents to rehash their complaints about outdoor bands at Bel Air Bar and Grill, according to committee members charged with taking a look at the city's noise disturbance ordinance.

"This is a citywide issue. We're going to be looking at the ordinance as a whole," said committee member Marla Mills, who is also executive director of Old Town Cape. "This is not a public hearing to debate one particular issue or one incident."

But Bel Air was what brought the issue to the attention of the Cape Girardeau City Council over the summer. That's when residents complained that the weekend outdoor bands at Bel Air, 24 S. Spanish St., played too loudly and asked the council to do something to bring down the noise level.

The council formed a committee, which is holding the public hearing at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 30 at the Osage Community Centre. The seven-person committee is made up of residents, business owners and community leaders.

Committee member Geoff Smith, who lives about 50 yards from Bel Air, said he agrees that the committee won't be settling one issue, but will instead be taking a look at whether the city's current noise ordinance is effective and easily enforced by police.

"I don't know if we will be able to calm everybody's concerns," he said. "I know there are both sides to the issue, but I think it's become a sensational topic in the last few months. But the public hearing will give everybody a chance to have their voices heard. No pun intended."

Cape Girardeau police chief Carl Kinnison and several officers will also attend the meeting. Several options on the table, Kinnison said, include using decibel meters as well as making it a violation for a noise to be audible at a distance of 300 feet from where it originates.

The city's noise ordinance as written limits the operating of any musical instrument or amplifier between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m.

The ordinance says live music cannot be played from a private business or home in such a manner as to create a noise disturbance any further than 50 feet from where the noise originates.

The ordinance defines noise disturbance as any sound that endangers the safety or health of people or animals and annoys or disturbs "a reasonable person of normal sensitivities."

But neighbors and police this summer said the "reasonable person" and "normal sensitivities" wording has made the ordinance hard to enforce.

smoyers@semissourian.com

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