Noise Ordinance passes

Bitchy neighbors everywhere in Tacoma won a victory last Tuesday, Feb 19, when the Tacoma City Council voted 7-0 to pass Tacoma’s first comprehensive noise ordinance. The Noise Ordinance will take affect April 2. Tacoma Mayor Bill Baarsma labeled the noise ordinance’s approval as “a long time coming.”



The idea behind Tacoma’s new noise ordinance was to strike a balance between businesses and residents, but just what balance this new ordinance strikes will be better measured down the road once the new regulations have been implemented. While in the past police and city officials have had very little recourse to deal with sound complaints, the new noise ordinance succeeds in laying out specific guidelines for noise disturbances and creates a whole new section in Tacoma’s Municipal Code titled “Noise Enforcement.” Under the new ordinance, Tacoma’s live music venues will need to make sure amplified music isn’t “plainly audible” from a distance of one hundred feet (measured from the venue’s property line), and that music coming from the venue doesn’t cause a six decibel or more increase “in total sound level above ambient sound.”



While the City Council sees Tacoma’s new noise ordinance as a positive step, the balance this ordinance hoped to achieve between residents and businesses (specifically live music venues) seems shaky at best. Here’s a list of exemptions in Tacoma’s new noise ordinance: sounds originating from residential property from temporary projects or home repair between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m., agricultural activities, unamplified church bells, aircraft noise, parade noise, animal noise, train noise, regatta boat racing noise, and law enforcement firing range noise.



Sound like balance to you? Seems to me like the only people truly affected by Tacoma’s new noise ordinance will be live music venues and practicing rock and roll bands. In short, jackhammer for home improvement = OK, electric guitar = violation.



Let the fun begin. — Matt Driscoll

All-mail voting

Tuesday, Feb 19, the Pierce County Council fast-tracked a resolution opposing House Bill 2833. HB 2833, sponsored by politicians from Olympia, Poulsbo and Federal Way, is designed to force Pierce County to move immediately to all-mail voting during elections and abandon open polling places.



It’s worth noting that not one of Pierce County’s elected legislators in Olympia supported HB 2833.



While it’s a rare sentiment around the office, we here at the Weekly Volcano would like to say “Damn right, Pierce County Council! Do fast-track that shit.”



HB 2833 is a crock. A complete and total crock. The fact is every other county in the state has already decided to switch to all-mail voting. The fact is, though HB 2833 innocuously calls for counties with fewer than 500,000 registered voters to immediately switch to all-mail voting, the only county in the state those words would actually affect is Pierce. Every other county in the state is already on board or exempt.



Three years ago the Legislature in Olympia decided to allow each county to decide whether to conduct all-mail elections or maintain a mix of polling places and absentee voting. Pierce County was the only county that decided not to make a full transition to all-mail voting, deciding to keep real live polling places open while allowing voters to cast absentee ballots by mail if they so choose.



Now the Legislature is trying to take that decision away from Pierce County, in the interest of conformity.



Well screw conformity and screw politicians from places like Poulsbo and Olympia trying to dictate how we vote. In Pierce County we like going to the polls. The Legislature granted us that right three years ago, and it’s bogus for them to try to take it away now. — MD

Urban Design Review

Want to help Tacoma avoid another Tollefson Plaza? Show up to a series of upcoming public discussions that will help the city decide if it needs to develop a comprehensive design-review program.



City officials are currently exploring the possibility and appropriateness of developing a citywide program that would focus on developing design standards for commercial, multi-family and mixed-use development, according the City’s Web site.



Officials passed a resolution in 2005 to approve exploration of the idea of imposing review standards on certain types of developments within the city. The goal would be to help officials work with developers to make development functional, cohesive and consistent with broader development goals such as pedestrian friendliness and smooth traffic flow — and avoiding another Tollefson Plaza. — Charles Monroe



Workshop No. 1: Thursday, Feb. 21, 6-8 p.m.

Whitman Elementary School, 1120 S. 39th St. in the cafeteria

Workshop No. 2: Monday, Feb. 25, 6-8 p.m.

Tacoma Municipal Building, 747 Market St., 7th Floor, Room 708

Workshop No. 3: Monday, March 10, 6-8 p.m.

Evergreen State College, Tacoma Branch, 1210 6th Ave. in the commons

 

Save NE Tacoma

A group of more than 2000 Northeast Tacoma residents have filed a motion to intervene as a party plaintiff in the City of Tacoma’s lawsuit against Northshore Investors LLC and North Shore Golf Associates Inc.



The group calling itself Save NE Tacoma intends to help city officials to force developers to follow zoning rulings and other regulations that they claim should protect the North Shore Golf Course as “open space.” You’ve heard that one, right? The one about the poor people who tried to have a picnic on a golf course?



“The decisions that will be made in this lawsuit will deeply affect the quality of life for the residents of NE Tacoma,” said Attorney for Save NE Tacoma Gary Huff. “It is critical that the people most affected have their day in court.”



Save NE Tacoma was formed in 2006 “in an effort to prevent the tragedy of losing the last significant open space in the Northeast Tacoma area, as Northshore Investors seeks to develop the North Shore Golf Course into 860 plus housing units,” according to a press release. Save NE Tacoma’s motion to intervene will be heard Friday, Feb. 22 by Judge D. Gary Steiner.



When they’re done, maybe Save NE Tacoma can help local activist Shiftshaper keep condos out of Hilltop (See related story here). — Robert Dobbs