Published: July 15, 2008 10:29 am            

Tabling ordinance a wise decision

More often than not, I’ve been very critical of many of the decisions the Richmond City Commission has made over the past several years. But, I must give credit where credit is due. The recent action by the city commission to table an ordinance amending the city’s original noise ordinance was a wise move on their part.

Mayor Connie Lawson said she wants to see what the outcome is of T-Bombs’ case (five violations and two written warnings) in Madison County District Court on July 22 before going any further with the amended ordinance. Apparently, the city commission learned a very valuable lesson from the Camp Catalpa fiasco and recognized the concerns of many citizens and because of that, tabled this issue.

Not to downplay their decision, but after reviewing the current ordinance, which contains very specific and detailed language regarding parties it may affect, I question whether this amendment should have ever made it as far as it did. Under the current ordinance, T-Bombs is not exempt in anyway. The current ordinance is being upheld as T-Bombs must defend themselves in district court for several violations over the past 10 months. I must also question why it’s taken so long for the district court to address it, given the number of violations and the period of time involved.

But, it appears to me the current ordinance in place is working. Just apparently not quickly enough for John and Becky Schlatter, so they complained and encouraged city manager David Evans and city attorney Garrett Fowles to create an additional amendment specific to commercial establishments, aimed at T-Bombs. Thus, it was placed on the agenda to apparently appease the concerns of the Schlatters and other citizens.

That brings us to where we are today. T-Bombs feels like they are being discriminated against and their livelihood threatened, while the Schlatters feel the current ordinance is not working and city officials were not listening to their concerns. In hindsight, wouldn’t it have been better to let district court finish its job? Then, based on that outcome, proceed appropriately which may involve holding a public forum to see if any tweaking of the current ordinance is needed. But, that wasn’t done and the cart was put before the horse once again.

In the end, it caused ill feelings from both parties involved and put the city commissioners in the awkward position of voting on an ordinance without public input. We’ve been down that road before and there are no winners. Tabling the issue was the right thing to do and now we must wait for the district court’s decision before any action is taken to revise or amend the noise ordinance. But as food for thought, let me throw out a possible compromise since that’s what we may end up doing.

If the current ordinance is deemed appropriate and tweaking is still needed, why not evaluate the current time restrictions as well as acceptable noise levels. Is 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. realistic for establishments such as T-Bombs, Madison Gardens or the Paddy Wagon, which are located in an urban entertainment district? Wouldn’t midnight to 7 a.m. (Friday and Saturday) make more sense and be something that everyone may be able to live with?

And furthermore, I have to agree with attorney David Bohannon, who represents T-Bombs, that we must consider the area where these types of establishments are located and what our expectations of downtown should be. Shouldn’t certain areas of downtown be exempt from the noise ordinance in order to encourage more entertainment opportunities? Drawing more people to downtown would help revitalize it, and the city must be very cautious in limiting options for a successful downtown revitalization.

If passed, the amended ordinance would limit downtown’s growth and slow down revitalization efforts.

Nick Lewis is publisher of the Richmond Register. He can be reached at nlewis@cnhi.com or 624-6682.

        

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