Homie with all due respect, please just stay in school and finish your degree. You will not win a City Council seat, I’m not being rude or discouraging, just realistic. Your studies are going to do a LOT more for you in the long run.
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But I am worried about Raleigh MLB chances with this new council if expansion happens this year or next year, I am also worried about Nimbyism winning in Raleigh. Yes I’ll get my degree, but it’s obviously been an idea in my head for awhile now. Raleigh is going through a spiritual battle being growth or keeping things the same.
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Nothing about the noise ordinance changed, just the penalties.
Some folks would just pay the fine and ignore the rules. Hopefully this will help keep Glenwood fun but also safe. Don’t break the rules and you won’t get penalized. Very simple.
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Further more I can’t decide between ECU (a small town) or William Peace. I’m touring ECU this weekend. I’m already accepted to William Peace.
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A little off topic but does Mayor Cowell support MLB in Raleigh.
I’m talking about running for mayor.
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What about people who have lived in an apartment for several years and then a nightclub moves in across the street (L Building and Aura)? Or people who live across the railroad wye from a nightclub but still hear it inside their bedrooms like it’s just outside the window because the building has no sound insulation/acoustics are weird, and the owner treats noise violation fees as a business expense and dgaf (Club Bodi, good riddance)?
There is often nuance to these issues. If we want people to live downtown, there has to be give and take from both residents and businesses.
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I would argue that people moving downtown should expect a certain amount of noise at night, and that negatively impacting bars and clubs (which are currently some of the only things downtown that are successful/driving growth and traffic downtown) will hurt the entire area and negatively impact the livability of their neighborhoods - i.e. if the bars/clubs close, people stop coming downtown, shops and restaurants start closing, these downtown residents now have to leave the area for their own shopping/dining/daily life activities
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I disagree. If you choose to live in the center of an urban area, you should expect noise. I owned a condo in the middle of downtown Raleigh about 15 years ago, with no complaints, other than Nimbys. Say no to Nimbyism aka privileged society.
Raleigh isn’t Cary.
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Raleigh is basically Cary outside of Downtown Raleigh.
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Well I think you should follow your dreams. But also be realistic. Maybe stay in school AND run for Mayor?
how do you accommodate a downtown urban entertainment (bars, dining) district and not have noise? use Fayetteville st where less people live directly on? hasn’t this noise and sometimes crime issue been going on for more than 10 years? was there a specific zone change that bummed many nearby residents out years back?
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Wow, y’all really live in a zero-sum world! Did I say that people who live downtown should expect no noise???
I’ve lived downtown for 18 years, right by at-grade RR crossings the entire time and very close to train station, police, fire, and EMS for most of that time, so noise alone isn’t an issue. In fact, I lived in Glenwood South for five years without complaint, and I think there’s a balance where both residents and businesses can coexist and respect each other, and that is most often the case. I’m talking about instances where businesses repeatedly violate the city’s laws. I don’t think that’s extreme or NIMBYism.
I live downtown because of it’s vibrancy. But for a few of those 18 years, my neighbors and I couldn’t sleep between midnight and 5am (gentleman’s club), Thursday through Sunday, because a single business owner wasn’t willing to compromise with an entire neighborhood, and the city’s noise ordinance penalties were weak. What’s the point of a noise ordinance (noise after 11pm above a certain decibel level) if the business just writes it off as a business expense? A business that completely disrespects it’s neighbors isn’t really contributing to the community, it’s using the community.
I don’t want downtown to be Cary, otherwise I would live in Cary. I do think that downtown businesses need downtown residents and vice versa. It’s a symbiotic relationship. I don’t think it’s nimbyism for businesses and residents to mutually respect each other.
It’s not zero-sum. Nuance, my friends.
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I just wanted to add a few comments.
The goal isn’t to eliminate all noise and certainly not to limit nightlife. We need a thriving entertainment district, and I’ve been a vocal proponent of Glenwood South since on City Council.
Our noise ordinance prohibits unreasonably loud noise (defined as disturbing the peace and safety of others) more than 150 feet away after 11 pm (nighttime) and 300 feet away before 11 pm (daytime).
We don’t use a decimal meter anymore because they’re unreliable and unable to pinpoint noise from a certain source in a generally noisy environment. A reasonable person standard allows the officer to go to the source of the complaint, measure, and then make the determination.
Just because a noise complaint is called, doesn’t mean a citation is issued. It’s up to the officer to determine if the noise rises to a violation.
Before, you could only get one violation per day. So some places would accept the citation, pay it (or appeal it) and keep their noise cranked up because it was simply the cost of doing business. Under the new penalties, a violator must immediately move the noise inside (not turn it off, the DJ or band can keep playing, just inside) for 24 hours, and they can get multiple citations in the same day.
If you walked or drove down Glenwood in recent years, you could tell the situation was getting out of control. The city has worked hard to maintain a fun and safe environment, by increasing patrols, establishing partial road closures and perimeters, and establishing a more enforceable noise ordinance. We still have work to do, and I hope a significant next step will be investing in right of way redesign, to allow for wider sidewalks and more space for folks to enjoy, reducing congestion, folks bumping into each other and causing fights, etc.
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Hi Jonathan,
Thank you for detailed information and feedback!
Can you elaborate on this part? Please 
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Sidewalks are too narrow. It’s been discussed funding a redesign to provide more space, like Fayetteville St. it was included in the Downtown study.
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Good neighbors for nightclubs can be industrial zones, offices (kind of counter-intuitive, but they’re closed at night), or hotels (higher noiseproofing than residences).
If the noise is entirely enclosed, vertical separation can also work with the right construction details.
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Jonathan, has the city looked into the possibility of retractable bollards on Glenwood for use during peak hours? I heard from some source a while back that they did and found them to be too expensive, but I have no idea if that’s accurate.
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That idea was never presented to us. Maybe the applicable department was attempting to fit it within their existing budget and couldn’t make it work. If it’s being discussed internally, it could come to us as part of the next budget. But I haven’t heard anything.
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This is great! As one that lives on Glenwood, it’s appreciated.
Is there anything that can be done with the religious groups that hangout on Glenwood spewing their religion with loud speakers? Both groups like to post up right outside my apartment. When they’re going they’re so loud that I can’t even hear my tv. I find them more of an annoyance than the club noise. I guess I don’t mind them to post up on Glenwood as it’s “free speech”, but they shouldn’t be allowed to scream into loud speakers.
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