February NVC Meeting
Chris Catechis
NORTH VALLEY COALITION MEETING
WHEN: Thursday, February 3, 2011 6:30 to 8:00 PM
WHERE: Los Griegos Center; 1231 Candelaria Rd NW.
Albuquerque, NM 87107
AGENDA
1) Proposed new County noise ordinance
The proposal would allow business to apply for noise permits for special events and increase
the decibel level from the current 60 decibels to 75.
2) Proposed new University of New Mexico health facility
The new (unspecified) facility would be located at 3401 Fourth Street, NW.
3) American Cement update
4) New business?
Chris Catechis
Regards,
Chris
From: cate...@msn.com
To: north-valle...@googlegroups.com
Subject: [N Valley Coalition] February NVC Meeting
Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2011 19:13:27 -0700
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
Groups "North Valley Coalition" group.
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
North-Valley-Coal...@googlegroups.com
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/North-Valley-Coalition?hl=en
Chris Catechis
Thanks,
Chris Catechis
Thanks,
Chris
From: Anva...@aol.com
Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2011 00:35:15 -0500
Subject: Re: FW: [N Valley Coalition] February NVC Meeting
To: cate...@msn.com
The Alameda North Valley Association, the South Valley Coalition of Neighborhoods, other neighborhood associations and community groups have come out against the proposed amendment to the noise ordinance.
We believe the proposed amendment should be withdrawn and Bernalillo County should make a real study about the issue to come up with a noise ordinance that protects the citizen's rights to peace and quiet, create an ordinance that can be enforced and one that is accepted by the residents of Bernalillo County.
Copies of the proposed amendment and a copy of the existing ordinance in PDF format are attached to this email.
Copied below is an article from the January, Alameda News.
Noise Ordinance Changes Proposed
Bernalillo County has recently proposed an amendment to the County Noise Ordinance – 30 -125 B. This amendment would allow private commercial-zoned property “users” to pay a $100 fee to Bernalillo County that would allow them to broadcast amplified sound events twice a week and three times a week over certain holidays. These concerts would be allowed from 9:30AM to 9:30PM for a 3 hour period. Sound levels are not supposed to exceed 75 decibels at the property line. The commercial property users would be responsible for monitoring their own sound output - rather than County officials.
ANVA only recently learned of this proposed change and was never informed by the County. Bernalillo County provided no notification about the proposed amendment to the public or neighborhood associations until this past Thursday – 1-27-2011. That type of notification to the public is not an example of good and open government processes. Public ordinances should not be created or amended to pander to a few commercial interests that may negatively impact the quality of life or others or at the expense of the greater residential community.
ANVA opposes this proposed change for a number of reasons:
1. This amendment would allow an establishment to have over 104 “concert” days a year.
2. We understand that the $100 event fee would be charged only if the “event changes” – Don’t change the event and apparently over 104 events could be held for the onetime fee. Please read the proposed amendment for yourself and see if this is your understanding of this poorly written amendment.
Multiple establishments in an area could subject users to continual “concert” events. The permits would allow any commercially zoned property to hold “events”. We can imagine the local tire repair store holding hip-hop music events 2-3 times a week next to residential homes or imagine the local restaurants playing music or creating noise from their sound systems next to your home. What chaos it would be if three or four business located in the same area decided to hold events at the same time or what if they alternated events to cover every day of the week?
This would be a major change to what most residential neighborhoods are used to.
3. 70 decibels (dB) is similar to a very loud vacuum cleaner or loud traffic noise on a continuing three hour basis. Mid 70dB levels are considered very loud and can be annoyingly loud to some people. Each 10dB increase is usually twice as loud as the previous level - 80dB is twice as loud as 70dB.
Information can be found at: http://www.asha.org/public/hearing/Noise-and-Hearing-Loss-Prevention/
4. This would negatively impact residential areas that are used to “peace and quiet.”
5. The assumption that the concert provider or amplified sound system operator will effectively monitor and control their own operation is not realistic. County personnel should be responsible for monitoring such events. Bad experiences with amplified sound systems at local businesses, the Balloon Fiesta Park events, local restaurants playing music, events at the Sheriff’s Posse Grounds and with other venues show that sound levels are very difficult to manage and the sound levels get out of hand rapidly.
The proposed amendment states that Bernalillo County Environment Health Dept. can revoke a permit if sound levels exceed what is permitted. It is not clear how this could be done if county officials are not monitoring sound levels. We know that in the real world this will not work if there are problems after County offices are closed or if the problems happen on a holiday or weekend.
The amendment does not address non commercial properties. What happens if a group wants to hold an event on a non-commercial property? A group of high school kids want to have a fund raising event for their football team or a dance team and they want a band? What if a church decides to have a church event with amplified sounds? What if they wanted to have that event every week, twice a week and you lived next door? How is that handled?
How is enforcement handled when the City jurisdiction is bordered by the Bernalillo County jurisdiction and there are problems with sound? Who controls the sound? Are there joint power agreements about sound issues between the County and the City? I believe the answer to that is NO.
In the past north valley residents have had to deal with other similar noise issues from a variety of locations. Residents and community groups have worked hard with venue providers to try to maintain a quality of life for residents. The proposed ordinance change would negate that work and open our neighborhood and County neighborhoods to negative change in our lifestyle. Many of us enjoy having our windows and doors open and not being subjected to concert or amplified sounds from commercial establishments. Many of us go to sleep early or when we desire and should not be subject to an increase in noise for commercial purposes. We therefore oppose the change to the existing ordinance.
We believe the proposed amendment should be withdrawn and Bernalillo County should make a real study about the issue to come up with a noise ordinance that protects the citizen's rights to peace and quiet, create an ordinance that can be enforced and one that is accepted by the residents of Bernalillo County.
If you wish to voice your opinion about the proposed amendment to the Bernalillo County Sound Ordinance you can email or call the County Commissioners at:
|
Commissioner |
Phone |
|
|
Maggie Hart Stebbins |
468-7108 |
|
|
Michael Wiener |
688-7230 |
|
|
Art De La Cruz |
468-7448 |
|
|
Wayne Johnson |
468-7212 |
|
|
Michelle Lujan Grisham |
468-7027 |
Email: anva...@aol.com
anvanews - We are using this email address to provide information about community events and issues. The information provided does not necessarily reflect the views of anvanews and anvanews assumes no responsibility about the information provided. If you have additional community information or questions, please reply to this email. We reserve the right to select and edit any material that is submitted. If you would like to be removed from this list, please reply to this email. If you continue to receive email please reply again and we will again try to eliminate duplicated addresses. Email addresses are not shared and they will never be used for commercial purposes.