About 30 Athens area residents, Ohio University students and local police officers gathered yesterday to create dialogue between all parties regarding the current noise ordinance.
The Police and Community Dialogue, a program organized by Athens Area Mediation Service, was held yesterday at Christ the King parish house, 75 Stewart St.
The dialogue is hosted to promote mediation and communication regarding various resident concerns, said program director John Schmieding.
One topic discussed during the dialogue was the controversial noise ordinance.
In April, a compromise between the current noise ordinance and an initiative by Student Senate’s Know Noise Task Force was proposed to Athens City Council by Athens Police Chief Tom Pyle and the task force.
If the compromise is approved by council, the task force will not attempt to place the initiative on November’s ballot.
The compromise proposes a change to the current time officers are able to issue warnings and citations without a complaint from 10 p.m. on weekdays and midnight on weekends.
Residents at the event voiced opposition to the time change because they fear ordinance violators will retaliate.
Although Pyle said he does not have an opinion about the time that officers are able to act without a complaint, he added the ability to do so is important because it has helped decrease the number of violations and prevents possible retaliation.
Pyle and the task force also proposed to council that first citations should be a warning. The proposal also suggests property residents issued a citation sign the citation as proof they are aware of the offense. If the offenders sign the citation, the fine would be waived.
As part of the compromise, if residents are cited a second time within 90 days of the first, a non-waivable fine would be issued.
This second proposal would change a noise violation from a misdemeanor to an administrative offense — a change John Calhoun, the executive director of the task force and member of Student Senate, said he supports.
“The goal of the change is not to allow students to make more noise,” Calhoun said. “It’s to lessen the punitive measures.”
Although the decriminalization of a noise violation received support from Athens area residents, some said that changing the time of enforcement is more important, which could cause problems for a compromise.
Calhoun voiced his frustration about the difficulty in finding a compromise between residents and students.
“No one wants to budge,” Calhoun said. “I don’t know where to go anymore.”
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