News

Council: Shut doors, windows on live music

By Bill Moss, Published: September 7, 2012

A couple whose fight over nightclub noise has sparked the Hendersonville City Council's attempts to turn down the volume on late-night music may have some company the next time the music amps up.

The council, after hearing a long presentation about zoning options for controlling music, decided that it needed first-hand, or first-ear, evidence about the just how loud the music is.
Lisa and Gus Campano, who live upstairs from T's Blue Note, in the 100 block of North Main Street, say music from the upstairs jazz club next door makes their apartment unlivable.
Campano offered to allow council members to meet at his home and hear for themselves the sound of music at 70 decibels, which the city allows.
"If the city council did want to have a special meeting and be in the apartment and use it as a test site, I would be happy to let that happen," he said.
The meeting would be subject to public notice and would be open to the public and the press, City Manager Bo Ferguson warned Campano.

It was not clear how the city would set the time and conduct the meeting. Campano said the jazz club is inconsistent the nights it's open and often bands don't start until 9 o'clock on weekend nights.

Council members spent a long time on a discussion of whether to separate restaurants from restaurants that offer live music and regulate the latter through zoning. In the end, they decided they did want to add that much zoning red tape to city law. Instead, they're leaning toward controlling unwanted or overly loud music by using the noise ordinance, which is enforced by police based on complaints.

The board did vote to make one change to the city ordinance. Restaurants that play live music now must keep doors and windows closed.
As they have in two previous discussions on the question, council members confronted the conflict between live music and downtown living without coming to a solution.

"I'd love to see T's be successful but I'd also like to see Gus and Lisa get a good night's sleep," said Councilman Ron Stephens.