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A quiet downtown now rocks

As the city's nightlife surges, noise complaints quadruple since 2004.

By CRISTINA SILVA, Times Staff Writer
Published August 22, 2007

From left, Seven O'Clock Shadow's Christian Schwier, Jen Medina and Cameron Stockton rock the crowd last week at Fresco's, whose owner says: "It's downtown St. Pete. It shouldn't shut down at 10 o'clock."
	[Scott Keeler | Times]

ST. PETERSBURG 

The arrival of sleek condominium towers, trendy restaurants and bars and inviting coffee shops has increased the number of people living downtown in the past decade.

But with the constant hum of activity comes the steady sounds of progress: an ambulance siren, the beeping of a construction truck in reverse and the inebriated chatter of bargoers making their way home all make slumber in downtown a restless affair, say residents who are fed up with the noise.

Complaints about loud noise downtown have more than quadrupled in the past three years.

In 2004, the Police Department received 33 complaints about possible noise violations. In 2005, there were 81. Last year, 148 complaints were made.

The complaints reveal downtown's growing pains as the once commercial neighborhood has become home to thousands of residents.

"There are many forms of pollution and noise is a pollution," said Emil Pavone, a Bayfront Tower condominium resident who has complained to city officials about loud music downtown.

But business owners and city officials say noise is what urban living is all about and residents need to be more tolerant, or at least invest in thicker windows.

"People are moving downtown because of places like Jannus Landing and the nightlife in downtown St. Petersburg," said John "Jack" Bodziak, owner of Jannus Landing Productions and several bars downtown. "If you move into an urban environment where all the nightlife is, there are going to be people, there is going to be noise."

Noise violations were rarely an issue in downtown in years past, mostly because, up until a decade ago, the area was practically a ghost town after dark. Then, city officials, concerned about the neighborhood's attractiveness and safety, encouraged mixed-use development in hopes of reviving the area.

The rise in complaints doesn't actually represent an increase in noise ordinance violations, police officials said. Residents can call in anonymously about a number of issues, including traffic, musical concerts, people talking loudly on the sidewalk or construction.

The city's noise ordinance prohibits decibel levels louder than 75 during the day, 70 during early evening hours, and 60 decibels late at night and in the early morning.

But many events or occurrences that are common in an active downtown produce sounds louder than those decibel levels.

An ambulance's siren measures at 120 decibels, a rock concert's sound level is usually 150 decibels, and construction machines often rank in at 98 decibels, according to the Deafness Research Foundation. Even busy traffic can measure at 70 decibels, meaning drivers fleeing downtown late at night after an event are technically violating the city's noise ordinance.

Still, residents say they are tired of being told that the noise is normal.

"City officials need to understand that downtown is a neighborhood, too," said Tim Baker, president of the Downtown Neighborhood Association.

"A lot of people who live downtown think they have to put up with it. That's ridiculous. As if a Grand Prix is something you should expect if you live downtown. How many downtowns have Grand Prix's?"

One of the biggest sources of complaints in the past year has been Fresco's Waterfront Bistro on Second Avenue NE. The restaurant plays music on the weekends and residents complain the sound wakes them up.

Complaints have gotten so bad that in recent months city officials have begun the process of evicting Fresco's from the city-owned property. According to the restaurant's lease, live music was never allowed at the property, said assistant city attorney Jeanne Hoffman, who is handling the eviction.

David Sockol, owner of Fresco's Waterfront Bistro, said if he banned music altogether from his restaurant it would defeat the purpose of opening a business in a lively downtown entertainment district.

"The city has been designed for activity and life on the waterfront, whether it is the Grand Prix or the Symphony or Taste of Pinellas," he said. "It's downtown St. Pete. It shouldn't shut down at 10 o'clock."

Council member Earnest Williams, whose district includes part of downtown, said he regularly gets complaints from constituents about downtown's loudness. Businesses and residents need to somehow find a compromise, he said.

"You do make a conscious decision if you are going to buy a place downtown that it is going to be different from living in another neighborhood," he said. "But I don't think anybody should crank the music up so loud that windows shake and things like that."

Cristina Silva can be reached at 727 893-8846 or csilva@sptimes.com.

[Last modified August 22, 2007, 08:19:36]