Publication title: Edmonton
Pages: A16
Section: Opinion
Publication date: Oct
28, 2000
ProQuest document ID:
252758133
Abstract:
Police may have better things to do than enforce the noise
bylaw on Saturday night, but if the city has a hot spot of infractions right
now, let's get on with it. Why not a short-term blitz, during rave hours, to
get these businesses to comply to existing noise bylaws?
Downtown Councillor Michael Phair suggests tying some
guidelines to rave club business licences that would in effect force the
business owners to run the clubs as good neighbours. That might include:
requiring the club to have tight noise restrictions; requiring cleanup of the
perimeter of the premises to reduce impact on neighbouring businesses;
requiring beefed up security to quiet crowds that spill on to the street and
also provide some comfort to seniors or hotel guests making their way through
the crowd. All of that, of course, will still require late-night enforcement.
Full text:
If you're under 20, the five downtown rave clubs are a sign
the city centre is finally becoming the swinging place it is supposed to be.
Trouble is, other downtown inhabitants are having problems
co- existing with these large-scale noisy clubs whose patrons spill out into
the street and party till dawn. Seniors in one downtown complex have to sleep
in a common room to escape the loud music and noise. Hotel guests are disturbed
by large numbers of teenagers on the street. And neighbouring businesses
complain of litter and graffiti. This can't go on.
Right now, business and residents' complaints are bouncing
between police and city bylaw enforcement. That's not good enough; some quick
steps should be taken.
The most immediate need is for better enforcement of the
existing noise bylaw to give relief to downtown residents.
In the medium term, city council has to figure out how to
make this new form of entertainment compatible with its successful drive to get
more housing and other developments downtown. Downtown should be a place that
accommodates a wide variety of activities.
When you can't get to sleep because of noise from a rave
club, it's no help to be told to call the city bylaw enforcement office on
Monday morning.
Police may have better things to do than enforce the noise
bylaw on Saturday night, but if the city has a hot spot of infractions right
now, let's get on with it. Why not a short-term blitz, during rave hours, to
get these businesses to comply to existing noise bylaws?
Then the city needs to recognize that a rave club is
different from any other forms of entertainment. With no age restrictions and
all-night hours, raves don't fit into any existing category.
Downtown Councillor Michael Phair suggests tying some
guidelines to rave club business licences that would in effect force the
business owners to run the clubs as good neighbours.That might include:
requiring the club to have tight noise restrictions; requiring cleanup of the
perimeter of the premises to reduce impact on neighbouring businesses;
requiring beefed up security to quiet crowds that spill on to the street and
also provide some comfort to seniors or hotel guests making their way through
the crowd. All of that, of course, will still require late-night enforcement.
A municipal authority has to be very cautious about how much
it regulates behaviour on public spaces like streets, especially in a downtown.
But asking rave club owners to meet some acceptable standards to ensure other
people's peace is respected is reasonable.
The city will soon propose a further remedy when it makes amendments
to the land use bylaw. The planning department will propose a new category for
nightclubs, which are now in the same category as restaurants. These will be
discretionary rather than permitted uses and their location must be more
sensitive to residential neighbours than is now required. But that will only
affect future clubs.
Lots of action downtown is a good thing. Council just needs
to make sure the neighbours are compatible.
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