Proposed changes would make country club pipe down or pay up
By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff
LINWOOD — Months of annoyance may soon be coming to an end for some neighbors of Linwood Country Club who have complained about frequent loud music and other sound generated by events held there.
After hearing from neighbors, representatives of the country club, the police department and even a sound expert, City Council proposed changing its rules regarding nuisance complaints.
The ordinance, introduced Wednesday, June 9, bases the grounds for a violation on whether the noise is “clearly audible” at the property line of the source rather than 100 feet from the boundary line. Council had previously discussed using a specific decibel level but decided against doing so.
The new language, which applies only to the county club and The Exchange, states:
“A commercial establishment, which is licensed and authorized to sell alcoholic beverages, from which loud noise emanates as a result of musical instruments, bands, mechanical musical devices and/or any sound reproduction device, including but not limited to megaphones, air horns and whistles, live entertainment or patrons, from either the inside or any outside portion of such establishment, shall be in violation of this section whenever such noise is clearly audible, to be determined at the sole discretion of the enforcing authority, at the property line of the source from where it emanates. All music must end by 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and by 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.”
The ordinance calls for penalties of $250 to $500 for the first offense, a fine of at least $750 to $1,500 for a second offense and a fine of $1,500 to $2,500 for a third offense. It states that no penalty will be imposed for a first offense if the business certifies that it has corrected the condition and provides satisfactory and verifiable evidence of the correction.
Todd Timbrook, a spokesman for the country club who identified himself as an investor, was unhappy with the proposed changes, saying they accomplish nothing.
“We’ve been waiting for guidance from City Council for a while in terms of what the definition of ‘noisy’ is, and they came back with this arbitrary ruling where they are going to change things but it doesn’t give any real clarity to the police department,” he said. “Overall I’m not sure much was accomplished.”
But some of the neighbors who have been complaining about the noise since last fall, such as Matt Altman of Carol Road, feel differently.
“I think it’s definitely going to help,” Altman said. “I think they went above and beyond what I expected they were going to do.”
He said he feels there is now a process in place to quantify whether there is a violation or not.
“The basis is, any sound, any noise that is significantly audible to a police office, we can call — and if you can hear the lyrics to a song, it’s significantly audible, in my opinion. Hopefully it is in [the officer’s] opinion too,” Altman said, noting it is subjective.
He said it will not take long to determine whether it works.
“We are going to test it. As soon as it passes — and it doesn’t seem like anything is going to stop it — we are going to test it the first time that we feel like it’s significantly audible,” Altman said, adding he thinks the country club is going to make every effort to comply.
“I think they have good intentions and I don’t think they have a choice at this point,” Altman said. “I think they want to be good neighbors.
Timbrook said the country club would have preferred the city adopt the state standard, which allows music up to 65 decibels until 10 p.m. and 50 afterward.
“We have been always within the state guidelines of 65 decibels, or lower than 65 decibels, before 10 p.m. — our average reading has been in the low 40s — and under 50 from 10 to 11,” he said. “We wanted them to adopt the state guidelines for noise and that’s what we’re following. We’re doing to our best to tone things down if we have to, but ultimately we are not breaking any rules here.”
Country Club Drive resident Kathleen Spaeth said through a series of changes, the use of the property has changed dramatically over the past several years. She noted the liquor license was changed from a club license to a plenary license, allowing the establishment to serve the public rather than just members. She also said music was allowed only until 8 p.m. but was extended until 10 p.m. A final change, she said, came in February when council changed the rules regulating the liquor license to allow outside music.
Timbrook said the country club should not be punished for being successful.
“I don’t think the use has changed at all. We became busier and the people want to be outside. We are listening to our customers. Nothing’s really changed dramatically — you had a liquor license before; it’s all the same. The club’s been there for over a hundred years. Many people have been married there, there’s plenty of events every year. The fact that we’re doing more events, that’s called being successful in business,” Timbrook said.
Spaeth said being successful has little to do with the volume of music.
“They could turn it down. There’s no reason for it to be that loud,” she said, noting the country club’s sound engineer took readings at her house, during which he asked the band to play as loudly as possible, and testified that the sound coming from the Fox Den was “so damn loud” even after lowering the volume to a normal level.
“There is no reason why if you turn the volume down that the people who are there at the Fox Den or on the patio are going to complain,” Spaeth said. “And then everybody can be happy.”
She said she feels like the changes are going to help the residents as far as reporting violations but feels the measure is too subjective.
“The question is, who is going to determine the clearly audible?” Spaeth said.
Timbrook agrees.
“They voted on Wednesday night for more uncertainty instead of giving us guidelines and giving the police guidelines,” he said. “Every officer is going to interpret the sound level differently and it doesn’t fix anything. It’s really an appeasement of the neighbors but I don’t really think it’s going to do a whole lot.”
He said the country club will continue operating with the goal of being successful.
“We’ve done our job and are going to continue to work to try to appease the few neighbors that like to complain, but ultimately the club has been there for over a hundred years and we are going to continue to be there doing our thing.”
A second reading and public hearing on the ordinance are scheduled for July 14. City Council meetings begin at 6 p.m. with a caucus meeting and then move to Council Chambers for the regular meeting after a short break.
The city also approved a private fireworks display June 18 at Linwood Country Club. An agreement is in place for the Linwood Volunteer Fire Company to provide emergency services in the event of a calamity.
