Hole in the Wall
When Moving Near an Existing Music Venue …
RECEIVED Fri., July 18, 2008
Dear Editor,
Re: "Can the Bands Play On?" [News, July 18]: What if we shifted the conversation about the noise level of music in Austin slightly? Music is sound. Sound is one of our senses. What if we talked about smell instead?
If you move next door to a KFC, a bakery, or a meat-processing plant, what legal recourse do you have to prevent them from emitting odors that waft into your bedroom? While the smell of fresh-baked bread might be a welcoming odor as you stroll down the avenue, would you want to smell it in your sheets and towels daily?
But would the police be out in their riot gear with their smell-o-meters ordering a cookie factory to stop making so many cookies per day so as not to offend nearby residents? Yet it seems perfectly acceptable for the police to do similar with nightclubs and music. Why? How about your neighbor who likes to grill steaks when you're a vegetarian? Do you have the right to make him stop because it offends you?
People with noise issues who can afford to live in neighborhoods away from existing industrial, entertainment, and commercial zones should do so. People who can’t have traditionally had to put up with irritants. My grandparents lived in a tenement right by the overhead "L" train in New York when they came to America. They didn’t want to; they had to. If you cannot afford to live in a place where you won’t have your senses "assaulted" by existing businesses, then sadly that is life in the big city.
Further, I believe that people who can afford better but don’t bother, nor care when purchasing a property to check at different times of day to see if there’s a noise problem for them, forfeit their rights to complain afterward. However, I do agree that if a venue appears in a traditionally residential area and blares music, it's a legitimate complaint.
Re: "Can the Bands Play On?" [News, July 18]: What if we shifted the conversation about the noise level of music in Austin slightly? Music is sound. Sound is one of our senses. What if we talked about smell instead?
If you move next door to a KFC, a bakery, or a meat-processing plant, what legal recourse do you have to prevent them from emitting odors that waft into your bedroom? While the smell of fresh-baked bread might be a welcoming odor as you stroll down the avenue, would you want to smell it in your sheets and towels daily?
But would the police be out in their riot gear with their smell-o-meters ordering a cookie factory to stop making so many cookies per day so as not to offend nearby residents? Yet it seems perfectly acceptable for the police to do similar with nightclubs and music. Why? How about your neighbor who likes to grill steaks when you're a vegetarian? Do you have the right to make him stop because it offends you?
People with noise issues who can afford to live in neighborhoods away from existing industrial, entertainment, and commercial zones should do so. People who can’t have traditionally had to put up with irritants. My grandparents lived in a tenement right by the overhead "L" train in New York when they came to America. They didn’t want to; they had to. If you cannot afford to live in a place where you won’t have your senses "assaulted" by existing businesses, then sadly that is life in the big city.
Further, I believe that people who can afford better but don’t bother, nor care when purchasing a property to check at different times of day to see if there’s a noise problem for them, forfeit their rights to complain afterward. However, I do agree that if a venue appears in a traditionally residential area and blares music, it's a legitimate complaint.
Sincerely,
Ron Deutsch
Ron Deutsch