Council looks to hogtie rodeo with reworked code
Posted on Thursday, May 8, 2008
An illegal rodeo spurred the Tontitown City Council to look at revamping its noise ordinance.
At the council meeting Tuesday night, aldermen requested City Attorney Mark Dossett to draft an amended version of the law, leaving out the clause that states the times the ordinance is in effect, 11 p.m. to 7 a.m.
The change was requested after several residents complained to the Washington County Sheriff's Office Tontitown substation on April 26 about loud music coming from a rodeo in a field along South Pianalto Road. Residents told the council that they could hear the music inside their houses with the doors and windows shut. Some even had to leave the house for the evening because the music was so loud, they said.
In an interview with the Northwest Arkansas Times, Alderman Ken Robertson said people have a right to peace and quiet in their own home and brought up the idea of changing the ordinance to give the law "more teeth."
"The rodeo brought to our attention a weakness in our ordinance," he said. "Basically we'll have a tool that we can work with."
Dossett said the revised ordinance would allow officers to make a judgment from inside a complaining resident's home on whether the noise is too loud. Officers could issue a citation for up to $ 500 per infraction. Only noise caused by electronic means, like speakers or microphones, could constitute a violation, Dossett said, and the ordinance does not apply to the Tontitown Grape Festival.
The council will vote on the amended ordinance at its next regular meeting at 7 p.m. June 3 at City Hall, 235 E. Henri de Tonti Blvd.
City officials warned the property owners holding the rodeo that the event violated city zoning because the land is zoned as an agricultural area. For the rodeo to be legal, the property must be zoned commercial, they said.
Todd Witzigm, code enforcement officer for the city, said his interpretation of the law shows that the event could be legal if the owners receive a conditional use permit from the Tontitown Planning Commission. He said the owners have picked up the application but have not filed the request.
Dossett said if the rodeo continued without the permit, Witzigm could issue a cease and desist order. If it still continued, police could issue a citation, he said.
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