It’s back to 2018 for the Woodstock noise ordinance after musicians and outdoor music advocates found a compromise law too restrictive. They said the legislation prevented performers from earning an adequate living.
“I don’t see any strong opinions either way for the law, and we were mired down a bit,” town supervisor Bill McKenna said at the June 10 meeting of the town board.
Councilmember and supervisor candidate Anula Courtis had been working with community members on tweaking the proposed law, but McKenna said his suggestion was to hold back. He said he had heard from the public that decibel limits should be used.
“If any of you want to take up and work with the task force, work with any of the other groups…,” McKenna said. “But in the meantime, we go back. The zoning law is still in effect. It’s got a couple of levels in there,”
Under the 2018 noise ordinance still in effect, decibel limits are enforced by the building department. Since the building inspector doesn’t work at night, the police measure sound levels and file statements with the building inspector, who then determine violations.”
Speaking for the sound-producing venues were Lily Korolkoff, who owns Station Bar & Curio with her husband Ben Rollins, and Neil Howard, who owns Colony Woodstock with his wife Alexia Burland Howard,
Can’t wait forever
Though music venues in town are disappointed it’s back to square one, they can’t wait for a new law now that the summer season is underway. For now, it’s business as usual.
“I think it discounts a lot of work that went into it, between the task force and the community, and the work that everyone’s been doing to try and figure out a happy medium,’ said Korolkoff, who is also a candidate for town board this year.
“But we’re going to keep doing what we’ve been doing,” she added. “We’re going to do six to nine. We’re not going to do later. If that’s something that’s deemed acceptable, and that’s what they were asking for initially, that’s what I’m going to do. And then we’ll go to 10 in July and August.”
Korolkoff, who books the bands herself, said she couldn’t “wait around for someone to make a decision forever. She had to plan months in advance. “I’d rather be consistent and have the neighbors know what to expect,” she said.
In recent years, Station has dealt with numerous complaints about loud music, and police showed up regularly. That has now stopped for the most part.
Keeping on keeping on
The 2018 noise ordinance was drafted in response to short-term rentals that had become party houses. It purposely left out decibel limits and was vaguely worded so as not to ensnare outdoor music. But it did just that.
After contentious meetings behind closed doors, the task force of concerned neighbors, musicians and venue owners came up with a compromise that allowed outdoor music only on Fridays and Saturdays for three hours each until 9 p.m.
After pushback from the music community last year, hours were expanded somewhat. Some felt that amount of easing was insufficient.
“We’ve had a thousand conversations about it, and we’ve had a thousand arguments, and we’ve got neighbors hating other — neighbors and businesses,” Korolkoff said of the decision to scrap the compromise. “To just be like, ‘Well, I’m going to throw up my hands and not make a decision’ is such an insult.
“But we’re just going to keep doing what we’re doing. I haven’t had any police show up. I haven’t had anyone call. I haven’t had any neighbors running in their pajamas screaming at me. So, I guess I’m doing okay. But I don’t know what else I’m supposed to do.”
No sound heard outdoors?
A revision of the decibel limit which is still part of the zoning, will be a big issue. In the commercial districts, sound is limited to 64 weighted decibels (dbA) at the property line from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. and down to 60 dbA from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. Those limits are much lower than quiet conversation.
“Sixty decibels after 9 o’clock at night? Are you kidding me?,” Korolkoff said. “It’s not reasonable. It’s not enforceable.”
Korolkoff questioned how the chain of custody can be preserved when the police are supposed to provide a meter reading to the building inspector.
And then, there’s a section of zoning that, depending on interpretation, can mean there is no outdoor music at all.
“Where required in §260-63 of this chapter, or wherever the planning board deems it appropriate for a special permit use, the following standards shall apply to all districts.”
Included in those standards is “all activities employing amplified sound shall take place fully within the structure or structures,” and “structures shall be designed to contain sound fully within the structure. This may require the installation of sound damping material and/or central air conditioning to permit the closing of windows in hot weather.”
McKenna has long argued the phrase “or wherever the planning board deems it appropriate for special-use permits use” means the planning board can impose those restrictions if it wants, and that otherwise outdoor music is allowed.
Korolkoff said it may come down to establishments arguing past practice of the town allowing outdoor music.
“The entire point of getting that sound ordinance out is to unify a community again,” Korolkoff said.
She is fearful of backlash. “Am I going to get shut down again? Are you going to take away my occupancy [permit]?” she wondered.
Without an adopted ordinance, Korolkoff feels she’ll be in an awkward position should she get elected to the town board. She recognizes she will have to recuse herself from discussions about the noise ordinance.
We’re a famous musical town
Neil Howard of Colony Woodstock echoed the thought that a lot of work had gone into the compromise, only for it to get turned down.
“There’s been sort of a good-faith kind of negotiation going on for quite a long time, with lots of meetings and hours spent and lots of concessions both ways and lots of sort of hard-won kinds of arguments,” he said. “And we had every reason to think that this wasn’t a lock per se, but some version of it was gonna be made official, whether it’s more stringent or less stringent or whatever, but some sort of agreement would be made.”
Colony Woodstock, like Station, operated last year under the proposed compromise, and will likely continue on that path.
“We operated under the sort of current compromise idea, as we are now. But we’ve booked our entire summer out. We’re not just going to cancel everything and ask questions right now,” Howard said.“I feel like we’re kind of emotionally grandfathered in. This has been the idea. Station’s trying it. We’re trying it. Bearsville’s doing their version of it,” he said. “We’re just going to keep going and see what happens and do the best we can. We’re still only getting a couple complaints, and it’s always from the same people.”
Howard suggested letting things cool off and then tackle the issue after the election.
“Then there’s new names on the wall,” he advised. “And those people, as far as I know, are the same people that led up to this. So I think they’ll get their stuff together, and probably figure something out, at least officially, before the end of the season. There will be some sort of wheels moving.”
One change Howard would like to see is decibel readings at the point of complaint, not the source of the sound, but the complainant would have to agree.
“The problem is, people are very habitually calling up, complaining, and hanging out. They’re not giving their name or their address. They’re not waiting to meet the police,” he said.
Howard called the proposed compromise more generous to the people who wanted less music — but still workable.
“I think it’s fully obvious that zero music zero nights a week is not acceptable, and 100 percent music seven nights a week is unacceptable,” he said. “What’s the middle point? Five days a week, probably too much. Four days a week, now we’re getting there. Three is probably reasonable. Two is definitely on the over-restrictive side,” he said. “We’re not Fresno. We’re a famously musical town. Part of our tourism draw is music.”
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