A request for an update on the noise ordinance sparked a testy exchange between Woodstock Town Supervisor Bill McKenna and Council member Bennet Ratcliff and resurfaced the need to make it clearer what is permitted for outdoor venues, mostly affecting those who present live music.
“I was really disappointed that we were not able to do anything,” said Ratcliff when asked during monthly updates given September 20 by the Town Board on progress with various issues. This spring, Ratcliff and Council member Maria-Elena Conte held a forum on noise issues in town to gather input to fine-tune the noise ordinance, which was enacted in 2018. “I came in and spoke to you about that. And you showed me a May 25 permit that turned out not to be a permit at all, and that you had given to the Bearsville Center. I asked the attorney to look at it, and he said nothing about it at all. I still don’t know what to do when I see bogus permits for the noise law,” Ratcliff replied.
“Bogus in your opinion,” McKenna retorted.
“It’s not bogus in my opinion. It is not signed by the town clerk as a permit should be. There’s no reason to have a noise law if…”
McKenna interrupted.
“So you’ve done nothing,” McKenna said.
“No. I have also looked at what is the resolution that nullifies the zoning law. I know there are a lot of people who think that there are zoning changes that govern the noise law as well,” Ratcliff said. “And those don’t, and people should know about that as well.”
The 2018 noise ordinance was enacted as a tool to stop non-owner-occupied short-term rentals that had become party houses with music blaring all night and into the morning. Outdoor music venues became unintended targets, especially as they proliferated in the wake of the COVID pandemic.
An emergency order waived planning and zoning requirements, but that lapsed and site plan review regulations were back in effect, as well as the noise ordinance.
All the while, the Planning Board was under the impression a section of the Zoning Law limiting sound to 64 decibels in the daytime and 60 decibels at night in commercial districts was still in effect. It told Colony Woodstock and Bearsville Theater their plans for outdoor music would violate zoning.
But buried and forgotten in the resolution authorizing adoption of the noise ordinance was a passage that reads “… be it further Resolved Local Law #1 of the year 2018 will supersede Town Code Section 260-29 A,” referring to the section governing decibel levels.
Ratcliff said hundreds of people have signed a petition asking for zoning law changes when the zoning does not apply.
The noise ordinance still does apply and its vague language can get venues into trouble.
Included under Prohibited Acts is:
“Excessive or unreasonable level of noise from any live music or sound reproduction system, operating or playing any radio, portable radio or tape player, television, tape deck or similar device that reproduces or amplifies sound in such a manner as to be heard over any property line.”
Confusion and frustration over the looming threat of shutdowns led to a lack of outdoor events at the Colony Beer Garden and Bearsville Center this summer, with both opting to get permits exempting them from noise regulations for select dates.
And Ratcliff places the blame for that confusion squarely on McKenna.
A petition drive was launched this summer urging the town to come to a compromise and change regulations that will allow regular outdoor music while accommodating the wishes of residents to enjoy their properties in quiet.
A recent organizational meeting at the Colony Beer Garden solicited volunteers to help with the petition drive.
“There were hundreds of people who went asking for zoning law changes, and are signing petitions for zoning law changes, when in fact, it’s not the zoning law at all, because our resolution has nullified that. And you know that,” Ratcliff said to McKenna. “What you’re doing is you’re impeding the work that can be done on the noise law by putting bogus permits out. It is bogus, what you did.”
The petition does not ask for specific zoning or law changes, but rather, asks that a committee or working group be formed to come with a solution that may include changes to town laws.
McKenna said the noise ordinance, which he wrote, was purposely vague to give law enforcement greater latitude and discretion.
He defended the permits he issued and said they are not bogus. He said he is using a form designed by the late town supervisor Jeremy Wilber, which is a mass-gathering permit.
The authority for the permit is in the noise ordinance which exempts, among other things:
“Noise from individually sponsored events where a permit for public assembly or other relevant permission has been obtained from the town.”
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