Oct 26, 2006 5:07 pm US/Central
Lower Greenville Residents Battle Late Night Noise
by Bud Gillett
DALLAS (CBS 11 News) ―
Some residents along Lower Greenville in Dallas are looking with a wary eye at this upcoming weekend before Halloween. They fear revelers will spill out into their neighborhood in even greater numbers, and that added noise will keep them awake later.
This area is chock full of night spots that stay open very, very late, and there's a constant tension between businesses and their patrons, and nearby residents.
"We've still got serious problems along Lower Greenville," says, Angela Hunt, who knows them firsthand; she actually confronted late-night rowdies and bottle-throwers last Texas-OU weekend. "I think this was the first time I personally caught someone red-handed," she says of the incidents. As a councilmember, police responded to her demands for service.
People with less clout say officers will not or cannot take on minor complaint calls if violent crimes are occurring elsewhere on their beats.
Long-time watchdog Avi Adelman says he's tracked police calls for 18 months. "There were seven tickets issued for noise; that's nothing. That is ridiculous. They should be writing tickets every weekend."
Even a valet parking attendant agrees. "People call in and make complaints two, three calls a night," says Kris Jaye. "Cops have to come out and tell them to shut it down, turn the noise down."
The noise problem is made worse, they say, by rooftop patios, which also aggravate another complaint: insufficient parking. According to Hunt, "You've created an entire additional level where people can come, drink, be loud, but doesn't have to be parked." She adds, "These people are parking in the neighborhood."
Club owners insist they are following the law. Some even take decibel readings in nearby neighborhoods. But, they also argue, the area has developed into an entertainment district which needs more parking.
Hunt disagrees, and asks for an inventory of all parking spaces in Lower Greenville. "I think we need to do resident-only outside of that -- all around Lower Greenville -- to make sure we don't have people coming around at 3:00 in the morning in front of someone's house, being loud and noisy and causing problems, throwing bottles on the ground."
Then, she would like a finite number of nighttime businesses. "I don't think the solution is we keep building parking spaces for bars; I think the solution is we get a better balance between bars and retail. Day and night."
Hunt says this is not a 'one or two' issue problem, but many of them interconnect. She hopes to create what she calls a "comprehensive solution" in a few months.
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