Thursday, December 12, 2019

Did Palmetto Bay Council pass a noise ordinance with no intention of enforcing it against itself?

Seriously? This might be funny if it wasn't so pathetic -as well as such a political tease - to take action promising one thing, but showing that the "results" are nothing but an illusion. Mayor Cunningham pats herself on her back for passing a more restrictive noise ordinance that specifically removed any exemptions for government functions. It is easy to put laws on the books, but the issue is always enforcement.

First of all, a noise ordinance should not be necessary for the Village Government as the government should always be considerate toward the neighbors; it should be able to keep its own house in order without actually writing itself a ticket (and besides, the big joke is whether the village writes itself and then pays itself for the ticket - taxpayer money, simply shifting funds from one account back into another village account).

But, secondly, and more importantly, the ink is not even dry on the ordinance and this Village was in the face of neighbors with substantial violations. I received this email the morning of December 11, 2019:
The following is an email I sent to the council and administration in regards to how the "neighbors", commercial and residential, around the Franjo Project are being abused, as well as some obvious SAFETY ISSUES for the "DUV Neighborhood" being "created", including the village hall property "negatively impacted" too.  To date, I have gotten no response and/or acknowledgements of my email.

"Enforcement" is always the problem with rules/contracts.  Somebody has to be involved, "monitoring" the situation for compliance.  A great example (besides the VERY OBVIOUS ABUSIVE FRANJO PROJECT out of control) was both the Friday and Saturday PBay Christmas Lights events "for a few" at Village Hall where the new "institution/gov sound ordinance with lower DB restrictions" passed just prior to the events, and was "ignored" by those "officials and staffers present" there.  I heard the music and announcements 4 blocks away on 98 Ave and 182 Street, and even further away southeast at 94 Ave and 183 Street later on, I could hear/feel the music while still in my car with windows closed there!!!  My friend told me she hears the events all the time.  I usually try to leave my house when the music starts.  July 4th is ridiculous!!!

Maybe IF "everyone" had to LIVE IN/WITH THE NEGATIVE IMPACTS, then maybe it would be a "priority"?  As everyone can 'see', "Neighborhood Protection" is NOT a "priority" in Palmetto Bay...   
 
After reading the above I have several thoughts: 

First of all, why is this current Mayor and Village Council allowing the Village to be a bad neighbor? Why won't the Village quiet its own party when it is brought to the attention of village officials?

Secondly, obviously this Mayor and Village Council take a "do as we say, not as we do" approach to government?

Third, what about the annual Independence Day fireworks celebration? The noise ordinance does not provide an exception for this event. Will Mayor Cunningham and the Village Council work to amend this ordinance to make the fireworks show legal (which would require no spill over of noise off governmental property greater than 60 decibels before 11 PM and 55 decibels after 11 PM - a challenge for fireworks shows) or will it simply thumb their nose at their own law, while enforcing against those who are not friends of this administration?

Why did this village pass a noise ordinance it has no intention of complying with? It sets a tone for a culture of ignoring laws.

GREAT IDEA - BUT ONCE AGAIN, IT IS ALL FOR SHOW, NO DELIVERY.

Why this ordinance? As stated in the recitals of the proposed ordinance (CLICK HERE to view the entire Agenda Item 12A, as published to the 12/2/2019 regular council meeting agenda):
WHEREAS, noise levels at public facilities and institutional uses are causing disruption to neighbors; and
WHEREAS, the Village has the general police power to regulate such noises in the public interest. 
Public Facilities    7:00 am to 11:00 pm  65  60
and Institutional 11:00 pm to  7:00 pm  60  55
The revised ordinance took effect on December 2, 2019, so it was in effect at the time this event was held. The Village passed it, so the village officials clearly had notice of their own law that they themselves passed (wouldn't it be funny if they claimed ignorance of their own ordinance?) However, lets be clear, the noise reduction was only reduced by a mere (but important to many) 5 decibels. From the information provided in the e-mail, it would appear that this event was well above both the revised and original permitted decibel level.

FAIR QUESTIONS: Where is the enforcement? And how do we track enforcement?

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