
                         THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
                 Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 15, 1994                    TAG: 9406150695 
SECTION: LOCAL                     PAGE: B3    EDITION: FINAL    
SOURCE: BY TONI WHITT, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: 940615                                 LENGTH: PORTSMOUTH

PORTSMOUTH COUNCIL LIMITS NOISE FROM BUSINESSES BUT NOT PORTSIDE

{LEAD} The City Council passed a noise ordinance Tuesday that may leave some residents screaming.

The measure was proposed after residents of Cradock complained about noise coming from a nightclub near their neighborhood. The ordinance may help those residents, but it won't do a thing for Olde Towne residents who have been complaining for years about noise from Portside.

{REST} The ordinance, approved on a 4-2 vote, limits noise from private businesses, homes and cars, but it exempts noise coming from city-owned property, such as Portside and Riverside Park.

Under the ordinance, which took effect immediately, a city employee will measure noise by checking decibel levels. The previous noise ordinance did not specify decibel levels and did not include ``impulsive sound levels'' such as the vibrations created by the bass in loud music.

Residents of Collinswood had been complaining about the bass vibrations coming from the Ebony Showcase, a nightclub that opened on Airline Boulevard several months ago. The nightclub's owners have worked over the past six weeks to correct the problem.

Councilman Johnny M. Clemons said Tuesday that the ordinance seemed to target the Ebony Showcase while ignoring Olde Towne residents' complaints about Portside.

Council members said the city has taken steps to reduce noise from Portside, such as cutting back hours when bands are allowed and scrapping the city's weekly Wednesday on the Waterfront event.

But Olde Towne resident Allen Gallihugh said the neighborhood remains concerned about the ``loophole'' created by the exemption.

``There's a real opening by which there is no recourse for the public,'' Gallihugh told the council Tuesday. ``That part is scary for the community.''

Clemons and council members Cameron C. Pitts and Bernard C. Griffin tried unsuccessfully to eliminate the exemption from the ordinance. They then opposed the entire measure. Council member John H. Epperson was absent.

{KEYWORDS} PORTSMOUTH CITY COUNCIL NOISE

by CNB