Bass beats continue to plague borough residents

MAT-SU -- The beat goes on, for some Mat-Su Borough residents. A group of about 10 residents who live on Spruce Drive near the bluff overlooking the Palmer-Wasilla Highway are still plagued by thumping bass beats, while Mat-Su Borough Code Compliance and Planning Department staff work to come up with suggestions for changes to the code to give the property owners a modicum of protection.

The Goddard subdivision residents have lodged several complaints with the code compliance office, stating their lives have been disrupted by loud bass beats emanating from Fishheads Bar, a nightclub attached to the newly renovated North Bowl, located under the bluff.

Michelle Weber and her family rearranged their house, moving into an unfinished addition built on the rear of their bluff-facing home, with plywood floors and bare drywall, to escape the noise.

"We moved out of the finished side of the house with windows looking at Hatcher Pass, carpeted floors, a wood stove …" Weber said. "It was warm and lovely."

Weber said she tries not to complain, and has developed a routine to cut down the effects of the noise. Her window is on the bluff side of the home, which is more affected by the noise coming from the bar below, so she heads to bed before the music gets too loud, and turns on a noisy heater and fan by her bed to mask the sound. But the tricks only work to a point, she said.

Ken Hudson, chief code compliance officer with the Mat-Su Borough, said the borough contracted with a noise specialist to monitor the sound coming from the bar the last two weekends, during late night and early morning hours.

"The noise levels did not violate borough code," Hudson said. "Certainly, people are still very much annoyed about it."

Hudson said the borough code is currently structured to limit noise levels crossing property lines at a certain decibel level. Bass beats, annoying or not, don't reach above the maximum decibel levels set out in borough code and, therefore, are not violating borough noise level restrictions. Hudson explained that noise levels are often difficult to quantify -- in the location measured, traffic sounds coming from the surrounding roads may exceed approved decibel levels, but those sounds are often more easily tuned out by the human brain. An announcer using a loudspeaker, on the other hand, may be within the approved decibel range, but could be considered more distracting because the human brain is wired to pay closer attention to voices, Hudson said.

"It's much more complex than just one measuring technique," Hudson said. "The bass is not the loudest part of it, but it's particularly annoying to human beings."

Annoying is putting it mildly, Weber said. She said although Hudson said bar owner Bob Stephens said he'd reduced the bass component of the music over the past two weeks and some people have said they're not as bothered, the noise hasn't diminished in her home.

"If he turned it down, I must be stupid because it sounds louder or increased," Weber said. She said she doesn't believe her perception of the sound has changed in that time, or that she's grown more focused on it -- she's been sticking to her routine of turning on fans and masking noises, she said, and tries to focus her attention elsewhere. Lately that hasn't helped, she said.

"The past week and a half, two weeks, it's just been horrible. The value of my property is going down, as well as everybody's around me," Weber said. "This one business has diminished our quality of life, he has taken it away."

Stephens was unable to be reached for comment on this story Friday. He has, in the past, said he's tried to address the residents' concerns by moving speakers, adjusting sound levels and performing spectrometer analyses at affected people's homes. He has offered to purchase the homes of some subdivision residents, or to install noise dampening devices. He's also said he plans to expand the dance area and build it out of concrete, which blocks sound and should eliminate the problem.

Hudson said his office and the planning department are working to come up with changes to the borough code that will incorporate noise annoyances such as booming bass. It's a process both he and Planning Director Susan Dickinson estimated could take up to six months, with the amount of work already on the plates of borough planners and members of the planning commission and assembly.

"It really is going to depend on how much public interest there is, how much concern there is," Hudson said. "There are 16 or 18 separate code changes being considered now, in various stages, not even counting the draft comprehensive plans which go through a similar process, and that have to be reviewed by the same people."

Weber said she's not sure she can endure another six months of the noise, but feels as if she doesn't have any other options. She and others in the subdivision scheduled a meeting Saturday to discuss what other options are at their disposal.

"I don't want to end up like the people fighting the racetrack -- some of them had to move out of their homes. I don't want that kind of stress," Weber said. "What is my option [aside from waiting]? I really don't have an option at this point. But we're raising that awareness, so people understand -- it may not be in my backyard, but it could be. If we have to wait six months, I'm not going to be too happy."

Contact Rindi White at rindi.white@frontiersman.com.