Eureka Springs, Arkansas: Lucky 13 Starlight Cinema Survives Noise Ordinance

In a development that will come as a relief to musicians, moviegoers, and anyone who prefers their culture audible, outdoor music festivals and the Lucky 13 Starlight Cinema have officially been rescued from accidental illegality. The Eureka Springs City Council convened a special, urgently summoned meeting Monday night to fix a small but significant oversight in the city’s noise ordinance—namely that it appeared to prohibit the city from making any noise whatsoever.

The problem surfaced a week earlier when Mayor Dani Joy and council members realized that the ordinance, as written, treated amplified sound as a sort of moral failing. Alderperson James DeVito raised concerns about what this might mean for the upcoming Eureka Springs Blues Weekend, an event featuring 70 performances across 15 venues and musicians of the caliber of Guitar Shorty and Joe Louis Walker—artists who are not generally known for whispering.

“We have obviously overlooked something,” DeVito admitted at the May 11 meeting, employing the kind of understatement usually reserved for discovering you’ve boarded the wrong plane. “This deals with all festivals. We have an issue here that we need to resolve.” For a brief moment, the council even considered asking the police not to enforce the ordinance, which City Attorney Tim Weaver gently explained is not how laws prefer to be treated. Instead, he suggested the radical alternative of changing the law itself.

Alderperson Butch Berry noted that the ordinance made it look as though the city was opposed to special events altogether—an awkward stance for a tourist town whose economy depends heavily on people arriving specifically because something is happening. “We do need special events,” Berry said, in what historians may later describe as an unnecessary clarification.

Recognizing that time was of the essence, the council declared an emergency and approved all three required readings of the ordinance in one evening—normally a process stretched over multiple meetings to allow for reflection, discussion, and second thoughts. In this case, reflection was deemed less important than preventing economic harm and the cancellation of festivals people had already put on their calendars.

The newly amended ordinance now allows amplified outdoor sound in commercially zoned areas for permitted businesses and officially recognized festivals, provided restaurants stay under 65 decibels and festivals cap their enthusiasm at 85. Sound levels will be measured by a Sound Level Meter, a device whose job is to stand quietly judging everyone else.

Residents spoke passionately in favor of keeping the Lucky 13 Starlight Cinema alive and audible, noting that it attracts both locals and tourists—sometimes simultaneously. Earlier this spring, supporter Chris Rose even presented a petition signed by 81 people, which in a town the size of Eureka Springs is roughly equivalent to unanimous applause.

The council’s next regular meeting won’t occur until June 8, thanks to Memorial Day, but thanks to this swift legislative rescue mission, the city’s festivals, films, and blues musicians can proceed confidently—secure in the knowledge that they are once again allowed to be heard.

Source: http://www.lovelycitizen.com/story/1541031.html