http://www.greeleytrib.com/article/20060224/NEWS/102240102

Proposed noise law includes steep fine

Doyle Murphy, (Bio) murphy@greeleytrib.com
February 24, 2006

Watch the tapes of recent Greeley City Council meetings, and you'll see a string of speakers talk about noise and bad neighbors.

Fast-forward past the bar owners, leaders of associations and the couple who live above a bar downtown. This is where the other noise ordinance shows up.

The quieter noise ordinance, the "loud gatherings ordinance,"

isn't as popular during the public comment parts of the meetings as its "cabaret" ordinance companion, but it would govern more people, and it will hit residents like a hammer if they violate it.

The ordinance would increase the fine for a noise violation to $1,000 for a first offense. City attorney Rick Brady said the average fine for a first offense is now $75-$100. Violators could reduce their fine to $250 if they attend a city-sponsor training session to teach them to be a good neighbor and perform 15 hours of community service within three months of their sentence.

Violate again within a year, and the original $1,000 would be reinstated and will probably carry another $1,000 for the second offense. Violations follow the violators, even if they move.

The penalties sounded harsh to University of Northern Colorado students Mike Lamoureux, 24, of Denver and Trevor Mansfield, 20, of Aurora.

"It's definitely a big deal," Mansfield said. "A thousand dollars is a big deal. Two hundred and fifty dollars is a lot of money to us."

The students are both in a fraternity at UNC, and events can sometimes become noisy, they said. Lamoureux said it would definitely affect fraternities, which also do a lot of community service.

Wednesday was the first time either student had heard about the proposed ordinance.

Rebecca Safarik, community development director of Greeley, said the city has worked with the university to try to educate students, and many of the chronic noise complaints come from near UNC.

Student body president Wes Song said the ordinance was probably a good idea. Students need to learn to mesh with the community, and there are some who haven't, he said.

"I think that it is a real problem having seen some of the Friday-night-roaming-crowds, fights-in-the-street kind of things," he said.

Bryce Kyburz coordinates drug, alcohol and tobacco education at UNC. The university is set to begin a program next fall to teach students and community members how to live side by side. The program will include information about city laws and how to avoid problems that lead to police visits. He estimated 90 percent of off-campus students are good neighbors, but others need an ordinance to motivate neighborly behavior.

"Unfortunately, some students, they don't care about their neighbor. They don't care about their community," he said.

A $1,000 fine would provide that motivation, he said.

About the ordinance

What is the loud gatherings ordinance?

The proposed law builds on Greeley's noise ordinance, which prohibits noise that is excessive, unusually loud, or produced at levels that annoy, disturb, injure or endanger the comfort, repose, health, peace or safety of others within the city. It includes noise that is shrill, impulsive, continuous, rhythmic, periodic or that creates vibrations or is emitted at levels that disturb the peace of others.

What are the penalties for violators?

A $1,000 fine is charged for a first offense, which can be reduced to $250 if violator agrees to attend a city-sponsored neighborhood conduct course and perform 15 hours of community service related to the type of impact the neighborhood experienced. Repeat offenders would have to pay the full fine as well as fines for the second penalty.

The offense is tied to the violator. If violators move, they can still be cited as a repeat offender.

What happens next?

The Greeley City Council could vote at its March 7 meeting on whether to approve the ordinance and a companion measure that would require some businesses to get a "cabaret" license.