Ohio University's Student Senate took a concrete step toward reversing Athens' stricter noise enforcement last night, preparing to create legislation to go on the city ballot this November.
Senate's resolution, sponsored by four commissioners, formed a referendum filing committee that will create a petition to place a referendum on the November ballot to ease the city's noise ordinance.
It seems to me what we can do ... we can form a petition and try to change the laws ourselves
said University Life Commissioner John Calhoun, one of the sponsors.
In August, the Athens Police Department began strictly enforcing the city's noise ordinance, no longer waiting for complaints before issuing warnings or citations to residents.
As proposed in the senate resolution, the referendum would change the ordinance to include at least one mandatory warning before citations are issued to offenders. It would also require a complaint to be filed before officers can investigate an offending property. The effective time of the ordinance, 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. on weeknights and midnight to 7 a.m. on weekends, would remain the same.
Students have written to The Post time and time again saying 'Student Senate should do something; students should run for City Council.' Well this is us doing something
Calhoun said.
Since Fall Quarter, Calhoun and other senators have been gauging student opinion about noise ordinance enforcement using Facebook, surveys and other methods.
Senators expressed their concerns about the referendum being interpreted as a right to party rather than something that only reverses the latest noise enforcement change. Calhoun said the first priority would be educating students on what the ordinance change would mean.
Other members were uneasy about the referendum's possible effect on the relationship between OU students and other Athens residents.
If we go forward with the referendum
I think the current noise ordinance will be voted up
said City and County Affairs Vice Commissioner Nate Hall, who announced his candidacy for an at-large Athens City Council seat last week. This has a serious potential to do more harm than good between students and permanent residents.
The newly created filing committee will have to overcome several obstacles before the referendum can pass, however. At least 10 percent of those who voted in Athens city during the last gubernatorial election must sign the petition before it can be put on the ballot, according to the Ohio Revised Code.
If students don't turn out to vote for it
then this will turn out to be a ginormous waste of time
said Off-Campus Life Commissioner Bradley Evans.
@ThePostCampus
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