Moses Lake may change noise law
MOSES LAKE - The Moses Lake City Council requested city staff draft an amendment to the city's noise ordinance after a bar owner said it could help him stay in business.
Travis Laibl, owner of the Sand Bar, requested a deviation from the city's noise ordinance for the third Saturday of each month during the summer from 10 p.m. to 12 a.m.
Laibl said he'd like to host bands on an outside deck at his bar, located at 204 West Broadway, but has received a noise complaint from a resident who lives across the lake.
"Our deck is well over 900 feet from the nearest residence across the lake," he stated in a letter to council. "We have had bands play outside numerous times in the past but because of the reflective quality of the water resulting in noise ordinance issues, and the limited amount of floor space available inside, we have had to stop allowing bands to play altogether. This has had a substantial negative impact on my ability to keep my business open."
Laibl told council members last week that he spent a "tremendous amount of energy" transforming an adjacent vacant lot into a partially covered deck to host bands and has tried numerous things to cut the noise, including turning the volume of amplifiers down to their lowest levels, having bands play facing away from the lake and putting up sound barrier curtains between the deck and the water. Nothing has been able to stop sound from reaching the opposite shore.
Despite the fact that only a single complaint has been logged against the business, Moses Lake City Manager Joseph Gavinski said making an exception to the noise ordinance is out of the question.
"One complaint is all it takes," he told Laibl. "We can't deviate from ordinances, it just wouldn't make sense. Your request to deviate is impossible."
"It seems to me that we did deviate with that last request," Councilman Bill Ecret said.
Ecret was referencing a petition by Tsunami Sushi owner Duane Lind to close a portion of West Third Avenue for the restaurant's annual Elvis Night. The council granted Lind permission to hold an outside show from 7 p.m. to midnight.
Councilwoman Karen Liebrecht also asked how the city's summer concert series correlates with the noise ordinance.
"I live far from that and I can hear it so as far as the noise abatement, how is that dealt with?" she asked.
The difference between Laibl's request and the others is that of objection, Gavinski said.
"The ordinance is written in such a way that we don't really take any action unless there is an identifiable complaint," he said. "I mean, that's what it comes down to. It's very specific in that ordinance that there is nothing to be done unless there is a specific complaint in regard to noise."
Gavinski told the council that the only thing that can be done to accommodate requests such as Laibl's is to amend the noise ordinance, which was originally drafted in the 1980s.
Moses Lake Mayor Jon Lane supported that idea, with a caveat.
"We need to be aware that once we open the door, if that's what we're doing, it can create problems," he said.
Although there has only been one complainant in regards to noise from the Sand Bar, police must always be cognizant of a complainant's concerns, Moses Lake Police Chief Dean Mitchell stated in an email.
"However, if by some type of some special council permit process, an establishment can have the ordinance modified for a specific period, I believe it may be workable," Mitchell said. "I appreciate that the owner of the establishment is attempting to resolve the issue through the proper method."