Eureka Springs is looking to ban loud noise from machinery, music and motor vehicles.
An ordinance has been drafted that makes it illegal to create “unnecessary, unnatural or unusual” noise, whether it’s from a motorcycle, weed trimmer or piccolo.
The ordinance applies to any noise that “annoys, disturbs, injures, or endangers the comfort, repose, health, peace, and safety of reasonable persons at any time, day or night.”
The proposed ordinance will go before the City Council for its first reading Monday. It has been in the works for months.
The ordinance won’t affectparades or other tourism activities, said David Mitchell, an alderman who led the committee that drafted the proposal. Permitted parades and “non-amplified crowd noises resulting from legal activities” are exempt.
“We’re dependent on tourism,” said Mitchell, who owns Heart of the Hills Inn. “Why shoot ourselves in the foot?”
The committee was formed last fall because of noise from motorcycles, but the ordinance doesn’t specifically target bikers, said Mark Hughes, a committee member who owns Regalia Handmade Clothing on Spring Street.
Hughes is involved with a group of merchants called Citizens Organized for a Peaceful Eureka, or COPE. The group took out a full-page advertisement in the Sept. 19 edition of the Eureka Springs Independent asking the motorcyclists arriving in town during Fayetteville’s Bikes, Blues and BBQ festival to please “ride quietly.”
The Fayetteville festival was held Sept. 18-21. An estimated 7,000 to 10,000 bikers traveled the 45 miles from Fayetteville to Eureka Springs during the festival.
“For better or worse, the ad that we put in the paper got everybody going,” said Hughes. “A lot of them were pretty upset. A lot of businesses that are geared for bikers were upset.”
The owners of biker-friendly businesses said the ordinance would hurt them financially, Hughes said. The owners of some shops andrestaurants downtown, however, said the bikers were already hurting their businesses because some motorcycles were excessively loud, he added.
“Bikers are the 800-pound gorilla in this room,” said Hughes. “We’re all talking about Weed Eaters and wood-chippers and Corvettes, but we all know why we’re here.”
Loud noises reverberate off the canyon of limestone buildings in downtown Eureka Springs, amplifying the effect, Hughes said.
Police Chief Earl Hyatt agreed.
“This town, what makes it difficult is you can be speaking on one side of town andthey can hear you on the other,” he said. “That’s because of the rock bluffs and rock buildings. Sound just reverberates through here.”
Hughes said both sides agreed that the problem was the “very small percentage” of people who were trying to be obnoxious.
“It’s not really about the bike itself,” he said. “It’s about the behavior of the person who owns it. … There are a lot of people who really want to be noticed, and we all agreed that they are the ones causing all the problems for everybody else.”
Fatima Treuer, owner of the Pied Piper Pub & Inn and The Cathouse Lounge in Eureka Springs, said she doesn’t think the proposed ordinance will change anything for the vast majority of motorcyclists in Eureka Springs.
“We’re talking about less than 1 percent,” she said. “It’s a handful of people. … Don’t be using excessive noise.”
Mitchell said the city already has a noise ordinance - Chapter 7.16 of the city’s code - but it pertains only to amplified music and compression release engine brakes, which are used on some diesel trucks.
Hyatt said Section 7.16.09 of the city’s code can also pertain to loud mufflers. Under that section, a police officer must first issue a warning, then can write a citation for a second offense.
The new ordinance would amend Chapter 7.16, providing more specifics.
“It fills in a lot of the gaps we had in the other noise ordinances,” said Hyatt. “It really covers annoying noises, whether it’s from a vehicle or a stereo, it doesn’t matter.”
Hyatt said Eureka Springs police wrote more than 30 citations last year for vehicles with loud mufflers, and most of those tickets went to motorcyclists.
Some of those tickets were written under the existing city code, Hyatt said. Others were written under Arkansas Code Annotated 27-37-601(b), which prohibits the use of mufflers that produce excessive noise or smoke.
Based on existing city law, the fine for a first citation is between $50 and $250. The fine could go up to $500 for a second citation and $1,000 for a third citation. The proposed ordinance doesn’t alter the fine amounts.
Jack Moyer, vice president and general manager of the Crescent and Basin Park hotels, said bikers represent 5 percent to 7 percent of visitors to Eureka Springs during the tourist season.
“The motorcycle market has become essential to the future success of Eureka Springs and Arkansas tourism,” he said in an email. “We can support reasonable dialogue on the issue of noise. … We would not however support any ordinance that discourages or limits visitation of motorcycles to Eureka Springs or the Ozarks.”
Treuer said the ordinance still has a long way to go.
“All this is up for discussion,” she said. “The City Council has to go through it. The city attorney has to go through it. This is subject to public input. I love my bikers and work really hard to protect them.”
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 9 on 04/11/2014