Moody ponders noise problem

Published 10:38 am Monday, January 17, 2011

As the city of Moody has grown in recent years, the community is feeling the need to enact a noise ordinance to ensure peace for residents as business booms.

The city council discussed the ordinance and the city’s noise management needs during a work session Jan. 6.

“We felt like we had a noise ordinance in place when we were dealing with the landfill, but we looked high and low for that noise ordinance and we found all the work we did on it, but Bill Morris had never signed it and evidently, the council never officially approved the noise ordinance at that time,” Mayor Joe Lee said.

Recent complaints have surfaced regarding two businesses located on Highway 411. One has had outdoor concerts from time to time, which has raised the ire of some of their neighbors.

“I’ve informed those folks that any time there’s any outdoor activities related to that business, they have to have council approval to get it, so that kind of takes care of that,” Lee said.  

He explained that the city would like to steer outdoor concerts and events to the park, rather than having loud events near subdivisions, where families might have children trying to sleep by the time the event starts.

“If they’ve got children that have to get to bed by 7:30 or 8 o’clock, and the concert starts at 10 p.m., then my phone’s gonna start ringing,” Lee said.

Another concern surfaced with a sports facility on Highway 411, which does cheerleading and dance training. The police department has received complaints from local neighbors who complain about loud music coming from the facility, whose facility used to house a trucking company.

“They’re not playing [music] outside but they’re playing it inside and sometimes opening the doors up and they’ve got it turned so loud with such large amplifiers,” Police Chief Bobby Breed said.

Lee said the business was asked by Public Works Director Wayne Taylor to ventilate their building and turn speakers a certain way to help alleviate the problems in a nearby subdivision. However, the efforts were not well received by the business, Breed said.

Julie O’Connor, whose house is 50 to 100 yards from the business, said she’s called the police a minimum of 50 times in regards to the issue, and she’s had to consider selling her house because of the noise.

 “My son’s bedtime has changed from 8 to 9:30 p.m. since it started. I’ve had pictures knocked off my walls because of the bass. I’ve gone over there personally and asked them to turn it down and I’ve been told no, because it’s a private party, they don’t have to,” she said. “I don’t know how to make my home enjoyable. Every day from 3 to 9 p.m. it’s constant, and it’s indoor noise that’s affecting my home.”

The City Council is in the process of working on the previously developed noise ordinance to tackle problems experienced currently by residents, while keeping the community business-friendly.