Thumping bass draws complaints

MAT-SU -- Staff at the Mat-Su Borough Code Compliance office are preparing to take classes to learn to use decibel measuring devices as part of a change last year to borough codes, but some residents are wondering if it'll be enough to stop late-night thumping that has disrupted their lives.

Ginny Taylor and her husband Dewey, for 15 years, have lived in a subdivision on the bluff overlooking the Palmer-Wasilla Highway, above North Bowl, a bowling alley and dance club that opened in October in the location previously operated as Valley Lanes. They said they've been battling house-shaking bass beats since the alley opened, and feel they've made little headway with owner Bob Stevens. The Taylors and three others from the subdivision sent complaints last week to the borough's code compliance office.

"Why did we wait this long? Because we didn't want to have problems over there," Ginny Taylor said. "I think we've been overly patient."

Stevens said he's tried everything he can, short of shutting the music off, to alleviate the problem. He discussed renting out the apartment the Taylors have in their home after they said a tenant was planning to move because of the noise. He talked with the Taylors about purchasing their home, as well.

"We've measured the specific frequencies that escape the building," Stevens said. "We've toned it down and got it to the point where I don't think anybody hears it except that one home. I'd just do anything that I can to remedy their situation."

Stevens said he invested $2,500 in special equipment to dampen the noise, and moved speakers to change the movement of sound waves. The problem, he said, is partially due to topography -- the curve of the hill below the Taylors' home directs the flow of sound waves directly to the Taylors' bedroom window, he said.

"You can stand outside the house in the middle of the night and not hear it," Stevens said. "The problem is, unless you go up to the top of the hill and stand in just the right place, you really don't hear it. It's a function of topography."

Ginny Taylor said he's right -- and he's been in their bedroom to check. But she said she's not the only resident on the hill who's continuing to have problems.

"It's not just our family, it's the block," Taylor said. "We were the first who went down and talked to them. In October, the system was blasting and my husband went down to talk with them."

Afterward, the couple left for six weeks and hoped the problem would be resolved upon their return, but house-sitters said it wasn't.

"Nothing ever happened," Taylor said. They contacted Stevens after their return and said he was very understanding. He brought a spectrum analyzer to measure sound and vibrations from their home on Jan. 23. It was a windy day, she said, and difficult to read, but after several calls to the alley changing one thing or another, Taylor said it appeared to be solved. She said Stevens left, with a promise to come back during the week and take measurements again. He did stop by in his vehicle later in the week, she said, but left after rolling down the window, apparently unable to hear any sound. Complaints or requests to turn the volume down since, she said, have gone unanswered.

"He's a good person," Taylor said. "I just don't think he thought of us as being a top priority."

That Friday, Jan. 30, she said the noise was worse than ever. After talking with other residents on the street who were fed up, they agreed it was time to ask the borough for help.

Robert Guertin, a code compliance officer with the borough, said the office has not yet measured noise levels at the site, but did send Stevens a letter requesting that he comply with borough code relating to noise levels. Between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m., he said, noise levels from the edge of the property should be no more than 50 to 60 decibels, about the range of a typical conversation.

Guertin said he and another officer, both several months into their positions, are working out a training schedule for the decibel-measuring equipment and hope to have the schedule pinned down this week. He said the office has been pleased with Stevens' willingness to address the situation.

"It's not like he hasn't been trying," Guertin said. "He has been taking spectrum analyses out there to try to reduce the problem."

Guertin said the office should know more about how the borough can address the issue by the end of the week. Taylor said she hopes that means the issue will finally be resolved.

"We don't want to shut him down," Taylor said. "We want to be neighbors, but we can't sleep at night."