BLACKSBURG PARTY ORDINANCE DELAYED

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 27, 1993                   TAG: 9301270221
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B3   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: MICHAEL STOWE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG                                LENGTH: Medium
BLACKSBURG PARTY ORDINANCE DELAYED
For the fourth time in eight months, Blacksburg Town Council on Tuesday night tabled an ordinance designed to help control block parties.
"The ordinance is almost there, except for a few minor points," said Mayor Roger Hedgepeth.
Council will consider it again Feb. 9.
Town Manager Ron Secrist said Blacksburg needs some type of mass-gathering ordinance on the books before spring.
Council proposed the ordinance in the wake of three parties last spring that resulted in 164 arrests - almost half for underage drinking.
The proposed ordinance - which combines the town's current noise ordinance with a less stringent version of a previously considered party ordinance - is designed to focus more on the parties and less on the common social events like family reunions and weddings.
The ordinance would be enforced only at parties where sound-amplifying equipment is used, but several members of council were concerned because the revised ordinance would allow the use of amplified-sound equipment till 10 p.m.
The current cutoff is 5 p.m.
Jan Lee, a Blacksburg resident and professor at Virginia Tech, suggested that council limit the use of amplifying equipment to daylight hours. At previous public hearings on the party ordinance, Lee complained to council about partiers urinating on his McBryde Drive property.
"After dark, it's much more difficult to chase people out of my bushes and garden," he said.
He also expressed concern because the proposed ordinance would regulate only parties of more than 500 people.
Several Virginia Tech students expressed opposition.
"We have different lifestyles . . . different ways of blowing off steam," said John Mosteller. "I do feel bad for the residents who live around those parties, but council should give some room to our differing lifestyle."

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB