Loud music complaints...what to do?

[coincarwash.ca]

I have had two calls from the local councellors office that many people are complaining about the loud music coming from my customers in the middle of the night. I am located next to a low income housing building.
I have signs posted saying "no loud music".

The councellors office suggested having someone working there all night, or even closing at night. (Both are not feasabler)
What sholud I do to get them off my back?
How can I get the music to stop at night?
What should I tell the councellors office ?

 

[Waxman]

Tell them it's an issue for the local police.

You are not playing the music; your customers are.

Towns and cities love to 'decide' when a business should operate and how they should operate, without any direct knowledge of that type business.

I assume you were granted a special permit by your city to operate a self-serve carwash business, which is a 24/7/365 operation.

I had a noise complaint and I respectfully requested the complaining party call the police next time. It's their job to issue citations for violations of any noise ordinance. Isn't that what you pay taxes for???

 

[Eric H]

I had trouble with the loud music for years. I did have signs. I think it was just the culture from a few years back. The past 2-3 years it really has not been a problem. i think that you will find that the late night loud music is from the same car or group of cars.
Let one of the "beat cops" know about the problem. By that I mean: Find the guy that sits in his cruiser all night in you area and let him know, NOT the police chief/shift supervisor. Ask him to make a few sweeps thru the wash at night or park near the end of your driveway. This has worked for me in the past.

 

[MEP001]

Getting your neighbors to call the police would seem like the best solution. The hard part would be informing them of that. Perhaps replace the "No loud music" signs with ones that state that loud music will be dealt with by the police, and your neighbors might see the signs and act accordingly.

 

[pitzerwm]

I love that The councellors office doesn't have a clue about the law and that its the customers that are violating it, rather than you. Another reason, that I refuse to open any new business.

 

[Sequoia]

Noise

You might consider being proactive and contact the occupants of the nearby building- in person or by mail, whichever is better.

If you do, inform them that you are working to control the noise and give them instructions on what to do-- i.e. call the police.

The other ideas are good as well; this one might get the complainers on your side.

 

[Keith Baker]

No one contacted me directly, but the police showed up one day about a year ago while I was there and ticketed an offender for loud music. I talked to the officer and he told me why they showed up so promptly when called. A police officer moved into the neighborhood behind the wash and his (or her) family was calling it in.
I put up two of these 12" by 18" signs right after:

"NO LOUD MUSIC It is illegal to play music that can be heard over 100 feet away. If you do this, the neighbors will call the police."

It has made it easier for me now because I can just ask them to turn it down when I'm there and point to the signs. The word has gotten out that tickets will be issued, so the problem is much better.
So far its working well, I just hope no one wants to label the car wash as a nuicance and try to make me close at night or hire security.

 

[mjwalsh]

About 10 years ago I invested in a low cost decibel meter from Radio Shack. It does help one's credibility just in case they say, "Oh it isn't that loud!"

It seems that a bigger problem is the vulgar lyrics that sometimes pop up from what they are playing--- rap or whatever.

It seems like about 5 years ago the local commission passed a law about noise beyond 50 feet. It does help to be able to reference a law. Then a person can be the good guy & say " I'm just trying to help so you don't get fined in case an officer drives by."

You might want to put some drama behind it so they don't think you are just providing a "spin"

We close from 10PM to 8AM & the cold weather up here tends to get rid of more riff raff so our situation is slightly different.

 

[MEP001]

I try to keep some control over loud music, but I won't allow vulgar lyrics at all. I started out being polite, asking "Could you do me a favor and change that to something without the bad language?" but a lot would still get upset, ask why, or in some cases just ignore me. I quit being polite, now I just state bluntly that we don't allow the vulgar stuff. If they don't turn it off immediately I call the police and have a criminal tresspass warrant issued against them. I had a LOT of problems with the vulgar stuff for the first couple of years, sometimes four or five customers a day, but I don't even remember the last time I had to say anything to someone about vulgar lyrics. Excessively loud music has also been much less of a problem lately, down from half a dozen on a busy day to maybe once a month. To quote a Denis Leary song, "I'm an *******, and I'm proud of it."

 

[Randy]

Been there and done that before. In 1982 we built our first Self Serve car wash. Shortly after it opened the neighbors started complaining about the noise, not from the customer?s stereos but from the car wash in general. They went to city council meeting complaining about every little thing that happened at the car wash, they complained about paper blowing in the wind, about over spray blowing out of the bays, about water dripping off of cars on to the street. The biggest compliant was noise at night, also during the day but mostly at night. They rescinded our business license and fined us $100 a day for operating a business without a license. The police would come every morning a write us a citation for operating a business without a business license. We sued the city, the city sued, the neighbors sued, it was a nightmare. The city passed a noise ordnance with a $535 fine if there was noise/music that could be heard at a sound level of 80db at 50 feet. In the end we came to agreement. We got our business license back if we agreed to drop our lawsuit, fence off the car wash, turn off the lights and close the gates from 10 pm to 6 am, we can one light on about the changer and back door. This we did and we haven?t had too many problems since. The city still gets a call every once and a while about loud music from the car wash during the day. The city then forced us to put up signs No Loud music, but they didn?t last long before they turned up missing. Now any car wash built in this county will be attended during business hours, fenced and gated, lights off between 10 pm and 7 am, with the exception of a light over the changer and over the back door. Needless to say there won?t be many new self serve car washes built here. (cont)

 

[Patrick H. Crowe]

Dear Coin car wash.ca:

I had the same problem. In spades! My commercially zoned property was adjacent to residential property to the south. I built there in 1990. A few years later the property directly behind my wash sold to very articulate complainers - - I don't blame them except for their lack of ability to see what was happening.

I replaced all vac motors with the quiet types. I knew that was not the essence of the problem but I wanted to demonstrate to the city my willingness to do almost anything to help.

The police here are a craven hoax about such complaints. TOO busy with serious crime. I hired a private police force (there are now more of those that public ones). I informed all neighbors where to call. It helped some, not much. It was EXPENSIVE!.

To be as brief as possible the complaining neighbors realized the noise was not really my fault. Moreover they saw the futility of their solutions, i.e., no business open afet 11 pm would never be vored in.

They moved.

It cost me a ton but I survived. Apparently the new neighbors are less sensitive to noise or, I think, less in need of things to complain about in the urban sore. Who knows?

Patrick H. Crowe

 

[Earl Weiss]

Been there. Neighbors called police several times a day and they cited me because the offender was always gone when they got there. Won in court because no one who witnessed the noise came. Met with neighbors and put up official looking signs saying "No loud radios" Offenders will be fined and vehicles seized. Mun. Ord #..... Seems to have helped. the theat of vehicle siezure seems to have some impact.

I also never "Tell" customers what to do. It meets with resitance. I have better luck saying. "Could you please turn the radio down, the neighbors call the police on me and it's a real hassle to have to go to the station and meet with city officials." This seems to work with greater success. \

On one occasion when that didn't work. I turned off the breaker on the vac the guy was using, gave him his $ back and said the equipment would not work for him.

 

[rph9168]

We just lost a self service sale due to petitions by the neighbors against it. We tried everything to resolve the issue - agreed to close from 10-6, put up signs, noise enforcement , etc - but to no avail. The ironic part is that it was not really in a truly urban situation. There weren't many apartments or single dwellings in the immediate area. It was outside the city limits. It would have been part of a small strip mall that was already in business. I have a feeling part of the issue was existing bad feelings about the businesses that were already there.

 

[MEP001]

I also never "Tell" customers what to do.

If you were referring to my comments, I never tell them what to do. I tell them what we don't allow, and if they're reasonable they understand. If they're not, I don't want them as customers.

 

[Earl Weiss]

If you were referring to my comments, I never tell them what to do. I tell them what we don't allow, and if they're reasonable they understand. If they're not, I don't want them as customers.

It was a comment on techniques in general. I have found that customers seldom want to be told anything. When possible I try the WIFM principle (What's in it for me.) For instance if the butthed decides to sstop and dry their car in the middle fo the driveway telling them to move often meats resistance. Instead I say "Sir, we have really bad drivers here and with wet conditions they often cannot stop and control their cars and you run the risk of getting hit here so please pull to the side". I still gey dumb comments like "I will sue them and get lots of $. "

I reply "You think they have insurance? You are lucky if they have a license. "

 

[ted mcmeekin]

We have not had too much of that but some. If my son or I am there we walk over and sometimes just look them in the eye and smile--that works for some. In other cases we have had to shame them into it by pointed out others customers but especialy children. But as others point out the police are key. My son knows all the poilice, sherrifs, and state police officers( he plays ball or golfs with many).

That really works well--sitting in the bay on main drag is a great place for their coffee and donuts. Sometimes they leave a note on equipment room door just saying they were there at 2 am or what ever and all was well.

Ted

 

[Danny]

I had a customer (full serve wash) with a more severe issue. They were not in the best part of town but during the day their business was steady with a faithful customer base. At night however local prostitutes started using the backside of the building to conduct business. Drug dealers also frequented his lot and sidewalks after hours. The owner went to local precint and gave them permission to arrest anyone on the lot that was not him after hours and to use his driveways if needed. He spent the next few weeks going to his wash late at night thanking the officers and inviting them in to wash their personal vehicles which he did for free. Needless to say his wash and the surrounding businesses no long had an issue with late night activities of that nature.

It is a slightly different scenario than a loud stereo but maybe applicable for some.

 

[soapy]

I walk out and tell them I don't mind the music but I point out that there are apartments across the way and they call the police when they hear the loud music. I then point out the camaras and tell them that the cops use them to identify who is responsible. It kind of lets them know that even if the cops don't show up right then they might pay a visit to them later. Never had one keep the volume up after doing this.

 

[mikempls]

Have you considered a sign that says something like: Attention! As per city ordinance all radios, cds, music etc. must be turned off while on car wash property? The problem with no loud music is that what is loud to one person may not be loud to the next! Just a thought.

 

[MEP001]

I never considered that because it would be a lie. There is no such city ordinance prohibiting radios at car washes.