So much for Fredericksburg...
Maybe its cause I'm still drunk from last night, but this really pisses me off...
Quote:
FREDERICKSBURG — Native Houstonians Sherry and Josh Abrams moved to this Hill Country town five years ago, opened a small computer business and prepared to settle into quiet rural life.
Now, they're talking about packing up and moving to Austin, driven out in part by the noisy downside of the town's popularity: loud rumbling from motorcycles with modified exhaust pipes and rowdy crowds at late-night stage shows at area bars and restaurants.
"When you get a group of four or five (motorcyclists), or even more, we can't even have a conversation in our backyard," said Josh Abrams, 50. "It sounds like World War III out there."
Fredericksburg, a city of about 11,000 people about 70 miles west of Austin, has been slowly growing since the first wagon train of settlers rolled in 161 years ago.
In the past 15 years, more and more of the town's visitors have been daytripping tourists drawn to the quaint shops and restaurants lining the town's long, wide main street, modeled on those in German villages along the Rhine.
Wineries boasting Tuscan-style tasting rooms line the roads into town, finding a parking spot on Main Street even during the week is chancy, and people shuffle in and out of the downtown tchotchke shops, clothing stores and restaurants.
The tourist trade drives the city's economy, but the noise it brings — the revving of bike engines, bone-shaking car stereos, the grumble of 18-wheelers, the amplified oom-pah-pah of the Germanic heritage trade and the twang of country music — have forced city leaders to struggle with balancing tourist dollars against residents' desire for a piece of the quiet country life.
Some residents near Main Street and farther out of town have been complaining for years about noise from vehicles and other sources.
The issue has reached critical mass as more motorcyclists with modified exhaust pipes drive through Fredericksburg on their rides through the Hill Country, Mayor Jeryl Hoover said.
"In my personal opinion, the tourism trade is important, obviously, but it is not so important that we'll put up with anything," Hoover said.
The city's 2006 comprehensive plan points to the struggle to balance growth and old-fashioned charm, services for residents and tourist attractions: The city should try to minimize the undesirable effects of tourism on local residents, prioritize "the experience of people shopping, visiting, conducting business or enjoying the public spaces" downtown over "the ease of vehicular travel to destinations outside the area, and maintain the 'sense of place' found in downtown Fredericksburg."
In October, after 688 residents signed a petition expressing their concern about the increasing level of noise, the police department began strictly enforcing the city's 2002 noise ordinance.
During the day, the law prohibits noise louder than 85 decibels,about as loud as a lawn mower. At night, the law bans noise louder than 70 decibels, about as loud as a vacuum cleaner.
In residential areas, the law bans noise that can be heard more than 50 feet from the sound's source at all times. The ordinance also prohibits the use of a motor vehicle that makes "any loud and unreasonable or unusual" noise.
Breaking the law is a civil offense punishable by a fine of up to $500.
Jane Woellhof, 62, runs an antique store on Main Street with her husband, selling fine china, cut glass and sterling silver utensils. Their business has grown in the past 30 years, but so has the noise, she said.
Woellhof, one of the organizers of efforts to get the city to enforce the noise ordinance, says she can name at least 10 people who moved out of town because of the noise and says she has had longtime customers cut their visits short because of the noise from traffic, which often sets off car alarms.
The City Council is considering lowering the noise limit and working with music venues to get amplifiers turned down at a reasonable hour, Hoover said.
What's "reasonable" is up for debate.
A few blocks down Main Street, Billy Duncan, the 61-year-old owner of Big Mike's Bike Stop, agrees that the noise downtown can get annoying. Putting up with some noise is just the price of living in a city, said Duncan, who rides a Kawasaki motorcycle. But any noise laws need to be enforced fairly, he said, not just against motorcycles.
"Where do you stop?" he asked. "And who decides what noises are unreasonable?"
At the Auslander Biergarten and Restaurant, which got a noise citation last week for too-loud music, manager Maurilio Resendiz, 25, said that shutting down the city's growing live music scene would be bad for business and the city.
The Auslander can get 100 people on a Saturday night, he said.
"Most people want something to do at night," Resendiz said. "If we weren't (playing music), they'd be sitting in their hotel rooms, not spending money."
mbloom@statesman.com; (512) 392-8750
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11-16-2007, 06:49 PM
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