Freddie's Place Pulls the Plug on Music Due to Sound Ordinance

Sounds like (0.00 / 0)

it's pretty bad down in Universal City, outside San Antonio.  

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by: Joe @ Wed Apr 15, 2009 at 00:51:26 AM CDT

not sure this is such a travesty... (0.00 / 0)

Mike is never one to miss an opportunity to hate on Jeff Jack, but I don't see this particular case as that troubling.

Take a look at the map:

1703 S 1st St, Austin, TX 78704

Freddie's is located directly adjacent to a residential neighborhood.  Unlike downtown, those residences have been there much longer than Freddie's has (I believe Freddie's has been around since about 2005 or so - I welcome a correction).  Don't they have a valid complaint when a neighbor moves in next door and starts holding outdoor concerts with loud music?

Currently living directly across the street from the Mean Eyed Cat, I could personally care less about noise from music venues (and I don't even like music).  But it does seem to be a valid concern for many.

And the real travesty, of course, is that we can't find a way to get rid of Jovita's bad food and terrible service.

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by: Kedron Touvell @ Wed Apr 15, 2009 at 02:08:57 AM CDT

question (0.00 / 0)

Does anyone who lives a block off of south congress, south 1st or south lamar really live there because of the peace and quite? I mean, its like there is no traffic at all on those streets...

Please read the Community Guidelines and How to Rate Comments.

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by: Karl-Thomas Musselman @ Wed Apr 15, 2009 at 03:22:37 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

sound travels far... (0.00 / 0)

Before they built the 5th street commons, I could sit on my front porch and listen to ACL or the July 4th symphony orchestra with no problems.  And I live at 6th and West Lynn, about a mile north of Zilker and across the river.

As for traffic, the owner stated that the ambient sound without music is 67 dB, which comes mostly from traffic. With music, sound is 74-80dB, which is about twice as loud given the logarithmic scale.

Look, I'm not saying I agree with the ordinance the city came up with.  I haven't even been following the commission's work all that closely. But there has to be some kind of compromise between citizen interests and music industry interests.  It seems an appropriate compromise is special music districts where the limits don't apply and strict limits elsewhere.  In the limited areas, owners will have to either have their music inside or install sound-proofing barriers.  I'm guessing the Music Commission looked at all these options and came up with the best agreement that was politically feasible (I would welcome those who followed the process to weigh in with what happened - yes Mike, I know the genocidal ANC nazis were at fault).

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by: Kedron Touvell @ Wed Apr 15, 2009 at 05:10:13 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Keys to remember (3.00 / 1)

1. It wasn't the downtown condo dwellers.

2. It's not new; this same batch of ANC folks has been trying to get something like this ordinance passed for a very long time (they used to call the restaurants on Barton Springs "night-clubs" in a previous effort to mislead people).

3. Freddie's wasn't loud; and they ended quite early.

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by: m1ek @ Wed Apr 15, 2009 at 08:33:13 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Live Music Capital? (0.00 / 0)

Freddie's and Jovita's were always two of the primary targets for the folks pushing for a tougher Sound Ordinance.  The Statesman reported that the first complaint against Freddie's was filed before 7 p.m. on a Friday night.  That's hardly neighborly or doing anything to Keep Austin Weird.  

The Council needs to either revist the Sound Ordinance or stop calling Austin the Live Music Capital of the World.

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by: Jeb @ Wed Apr 15, 2009 at 10:41:07 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

neighborly behavior (0.00 / 0)

Let me state that I'm playing devil's advocate here, since I really could care less about noise and I prefer to live in the hustle and bustle near downtown and campus.

But I'm guessing that the residences around Freddie's didn't find it too neighborly when they played their music really loud.  That's why we're in this pickle in the first place.

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by: Kedron Touvell @ Wed Apr 15, 2009 at 10:55:45 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

irrelevant (0.00 / 0)

1. who cares? yes, we know you don't like ANC or Jeff Jack.
2. see #1
3. They broke the ordinance.  Yes, the ordinance probably sucks.  But it was just changed after 2 years of excruciating Austin-style democracy.  Are you committing to actually do something about it besides breath bile online?

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by: Kedron Touvell @ Wed Apr 15, 2009 at 10:52:55 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Bile (0.00 / 0)

Somebody's got a bucket full right now, and it ain't me.

I just wonder why this has struck close enough to home for you to want to play devil's advocate quite this vigorously.

The ANC is relevant here because the media believes the force for this ordinance came from downtown condo dwellers (and sometimes 'Californian McMansion dwellers'). Thus, Jeff and the ANC win twice - first by killing live music, and second by getting the public pissed about urban development.

As for the ordinance, there is precisely zero benefit in me wasting months of time I don't have only to have city council do what they want to - which, by the way, is what happened here; as we saw with the first rev of the Bike Plan, plans don't mean squat unless the council lives up to them. Likewise, the council voted for the ordinance, knowing full well what it would do, and more importantly, where it came from and against whom it would be applied.

The old chestnut of "if you just complain online you don't get a vote" is why the ANC has this much power to begin with - it's run by people without day jobs. I have a day job in Westlake (shudder!) and a family - I do not have time to waste on trying to getting my voice heard amidst the crowd of people like Jack who have nothing to do but engage in this crap all day long. I CAN (obviously do) write emails and crackplog from my desk when I get spare moments, but it's gonna be pretty hard to swing getting to Council Chambers and back (although I did do it a couple times for Brewster's rail meetings).

And, fuck, I only served for like 5 years on the UTC. But let's forget that.

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by: m1ek @ Wed Apr 15, 2009 at 11:14:59 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

ANC + Jeff Jack (0.00 / 0)

Believe it or not, the vast majority of folks in ANC have jobs, families, and no abundance of free time as well.  They are Austin citizens who believe in engaging in the democratic process to protect their quality of life.  Yes, they are often misguided, most of us are at least sometime and we should get respectful pushback when we are.  But I get tired of seeing them demonized for participating in the public process.  When it was just you, I didn't care so much, and thought it was kind of funny.  But the bile is starting to spread to others who don't know what they're talking about.  I don't think an army of dahmusbots is a healthy situation for our city, frankly.  Put it this way, you're one of a kind.

And yes, I respect your service on the UTC and hope that you continue your policy analysis, which I usually agree with.  

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by: Kedron Touvell @ Wed Apr 15, 2009 at 11:33:47 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Bullshit (0.00 / 0)

The leadership of the ANC is the idle rich, like Morrison, or slacktivists getting by on part-time jobs, like Jack. Always has been, likely always will be.

The NAs themselves occasionally get some participation from people with day jobs - but the leadership aren't guys working in software or at banks or at chip companies or firefighters or teachers or in state offices. They aren't in my current neighborhood; they weren't in OWANA either.

They are welcome to participate in the political process. They are most definitely NOT welcome to slander those who participate in the political process in a different way (email/blog) because they actually have to work for a living and have a family to take care of at night.

And you've gotten really close to that line yourself lately.

What we get when the ANC crowd gets too much power is "government by those with the most time on their hands". I firmly believe that it's very important to point that out when they claim to be representing the little guy. Guess what? The little guy is at work right now and doesn't have time to do more than vote in City Council elections (if we're lucky).

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by: m1ek @ Wed Apr 15, 2009 at 11:41:14 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

rich maybe. idle no. (0.00 / 0)

The below is from Laura's bio.  Doesn't sound like idle rich to me.

Laura's professional career has included working as an engineer for Lockheed Martin, as a consultant in export compliance, and more recently, in the field of pandemic flu preparedness. She holds a Graduate Certificate in Community Preparedness and Disaster Management from the School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; a Master's degree in Mathematics from the University of California, San Diego; and a Bachelor's in Mathematics from the University of California, Berkeley.

Laura moved to Austin in 1981 with her husband, Phil Morrison, who is a Physics Professor at the University of Texas. Laura and Phil have two sons, Will, who lives in San Francisco, and Benny, who lives in Portland. Laura and Phil are most delighted to have recently welcomed daughters-in-law Minjia and Dayna into the family.

To relax, Laura tap dances with friends every Sunday (although she says not very well). And during the week Laura rows on Lady Bird Lake and swims at Barton Springs and says she is grateful for these jewels of our City.

For the record, I worked in software for 8 years before I became a "slacktivist" and still do freelance contract work.  I'm not sure why you think valuing community over money is worthy of slander (how many flat panel tvs does one family need?).  And yes, I know plenty of slacktivists supporting families.

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by: Kedron Touvell @ Wed Apr 15, 2009 at 11:55:42 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

slacktivist (0.00 / 0)

We have zero flat panel TVs. Soon to be 3 kids. One job paying the bills. Nice try.

Idle rich - Laura fits the profile perfectly; not having held a real job for many years (no, 'consulting' doesn't qualify).

I don't know enough about Chimenti; I may have exaggerated there, but she's surely rich too, as discovered during the McMansion fiasco (owns big home on huge lot in Travis Heights).

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by: m1ek @ Wed Apr 15, 2009 at 12:11:51 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Nah, but.... (0.00 / 0)

Seriously, it's such a big deal to erect a barrier or turn down the amps?

Cry me a fucking river.

For me it wouldn't be the noise... it would be the shitty music from the shitty band they had booked that night. Live music isn't always a good thing, even in Austin.

I write for Treaty Oak (because, you know, it can't type).

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by: TreatyOak @ Wed Apr 15, 2009 at 10:35:38 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

70 db (0.00 / 0)

doesn't require much amplification to get there. Get real.

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by: m1ek @ Wed Apr 15, 2009 at 10:52:23 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

another question (0.00 / 0)

What's the db on teabagging?

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by: Steve Voytowich @ Wed Apr 15, 2009 at 10:51:57 AM CDT

78745? (0.00 / 0)

Maybe life would be better for all concerned if the problem 78704 venues moved further south or to Southwest Austin? Our large amount of vacant strip center space would work quit well for indoor live music clubs.

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by: ssuits @ Sat Apr 18, 2009 at 17:56:26 PM CDT