The residents of Johns Creek Medlock Bridge neighborhood are sleepy.
Saturday night, they gathered in their cul-de-sac to hear “Hysteria,” a Def Leppard tribute band, play a show at 37 Main Rock and Roll Cafe.
The thumping kick drum and rhythmic guitar riffs started around 10 p.m., and continued to waft through the neighborhood until midnight.
The music used to get louder with a DJ playing from midnight until 2 a.m. Cafe employees said they switched to quieter house music in the early-morning hours after residents started to complain.
“We’re somewhere in the neighborhood 700, maybe 1,000 feet away and you can hear the rambling, you can hear the thunder, you can hear the pounding of the music,” said Rick Shay, who has lived in the neighborhood for 18 years. “Not only can you hear it outside, but you can hear it inside the house as well. It’s about 10:30 at night right now, and this has happened two to three times a week for the past 24 months.”
In the past few months, this cul-de-sac has become the main battleground of Johns Creek's nuisance ordinance dispute. Neighbors have come together to fight for their right to a good night's sleep, while 37 Main, with the support of the business community, is attempting to provide live music on a regular basis.
Neighbors have filed 39 complaints with the city police department against the “rock and roll café” since it opened two years ago. As a sister venue to the original Buford location, 37 Main brings in bands every Friday and Saturday night, with the occasional act playing mid-week. They got all of the necessary permits to open a concert venue, but the residents say they were never informed of their new neighbor’s plans.
Chantelle Knuycky, the general manager of 37 Main, said they wanted to be part of the Medlock Bridge community, not fighting against it.
“At the end of the day, we want everyone to be our customers,” Knuycky said. “We don’t want unhappy people back there at all, but we are trying to run a business.”
As the dispute has escalated, it has moved from the cul-de-sac to the city council. A stakeholder's committee, made up of neighbors and business owners, is in the process of amending the city's nuisance ordinance to include the first-ever rules regarding amplified sound from entertainment venues. The current proposal intends to limit plainly audible noise in residential areas between the hours of 11 pm and 7 am, but a resolution still seems distant.
“We want a compromise, but we want something fair and measurable,” Knuycky said. She worries that the “plainly audible” standard is simply too subjective. She’d rather see strict decibel limits outlined in the ordinance. “The only way to be truly fair is if we know what we’re aiming for.”
But the city of Johns Creek wants to make enforcement as simple as possible. According to Tom Trask, the acoustical consultant who has advised both 37 Main and the stakeholder’s committee, the appropriate sound level meters and calibrators could cost up to $3,000 per kit.
“Nobody is going to hire an expert like me for every single complaint,” Trask said. “A law enforcement officer is going to be the one who does that and they’re not trained to do that. Plainly audible, if you can define it – that’s the recommendation that I made – in the ordinance that anybody could read and you don’t make it too narrow, then it seems as if that is a plausible direction to go.”
Councilman Lenny Zaprowski, along with businesses in the area, are concerned that this could be bad for business, but Community Development Director Sharon Ebert has been careful to make sure that the ordinance only applies to sound heard in residential neighborhoods. She and the rest of the stakeholders don’t expect to see a chilling effect in commercial zones.
“In my mind, it only chills this kind of business, like a music venue or all-night motorcycle repair shop,” said Jeff Cook, who lives right behind 37 Main and sits on the stakeholder’s committee.
The music is so disruptive to him, Cook has even considered selling his house. Meanwhile, 37 Main will go to court on Friday for the seven citations it has received in recent months. The city has threatened to suspend its liquor license if they continue to get complaints.
The city council will take a final vote on the ordinance on July 25.
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