Laura Morrison and Jeff Jack kill "Unplugged at the Grove"

[hookem]

Originally Posted by M1EK

Two new (to me) sites for background.

A new (to me) explanation of the nuts and bolts of the ordinance process, meriting a read by anybody and everybody involved.

Very good read. I especially like this, which explains away (better than I could) the tripe being passed along by Morrison's staffer about the 70DB limit being in place since 1986:

Gary Etie says that “Neighborhood Groups, Council Member Morrison, certain City of Austin attorneys, et al, brought over an existing 70 dB limit that was found in the Zoning section of the Code, Chapter 25-2, and brought that language over to the Outdoor Music Venue Permit Amendment that was passed just prior to SXSW, while everybody was too busy to do anything to stop them. An Outdoor Music Venue Permit is a separate ‘Noise and Sound’ permit, issued under the Noise and Sound Ordinance, and must be obtained in addition to the Building Permit that establishes Use as a Restaurant or Cocktail Lounge.”

[Austin Contrarian]

I'd heard different things about what these ordinances do, so I looked at them myself and prepared my own summary. http://www.austincontrarian.com/aust...ordinance.html

1. Restaurants are limited to 70 decibels. No exception. There is no variance available to get them back to 85.

2. In order to get the 85 decibel limit, a restaurant will have to be reclassified as a cocktail lounge. It's not at all clear that a bona fide restaurant like Shady Grove meets the code's definition of cocktail lounge. Also, any restaurant that wants to make the switch will need CS-1 zoning, which is pretty rare.

3. Permits for outdoor music venues are now completely discretionary. City staff can approve them or deny based on loose criteria. Neighborhood associations and homeowners are entitled to lobby against the permit. This includes any application to renew a permit.

[bluedogok]

Originally Posted by M1EK

Because Morrison is going along with a quickie effective exemption for Shady Grove right now while the heat is on rather than fixing the ordinance.

Having to change use to a 'cocktail lounge' may, again, have additional unintended consequences which I'm not equipped to anticipate in my minimal understanding of the code. Austin Contrarian (far better equipped) looked at it a bit but hasn't come to any firm conclusion yet either.

Seems to me they will use the "cocktail lounge" ordinance to kill off even more of them as they usually face more scrutiny in the permitting and public hearing areas than "just a restaurant" would face. then they might be able to pass more restrictions under the lounge ordinance and force them to jump through even more hoops. I don't see it as a good thing, it has potential to be even more severe because of the potential limitations that redrock posted.

[KevinFromTexas]

So what are some websites and email addresses we should know about to complain about this? How can we get the word out? Let's compile a list for easy use.

That Twitter page is a good idea, where's the link to that? And maybe a facebook page based on the issue. Once we've set one or two of those up, we could compile a list of contacts on those sites to get people involved in complaining about this. And we need to make it well known who the instigators are in this.

[M1EK]

Get the word out to the OTHER city council members that you don't buy in to what Morrison tried to do. (She's not going to be receptive to going against the ANC; others aren't lost causes - somebody like Martinez is likely the most amenable to reason, but even Leffingwell can probably be talked to).

[M1EK]

1. Connect the Dots from my crackplog

2. Burnt Orange Report diary - I linked back here in the comments; and KT has contacted Morrison's camp for a response.

[Myomi]

Hey, does anyone know if Shady Grove is going to have Unplugged this week? If they are, I think all of us who can go should go and show and organized show of support over them standing up to this ordinance. I am definitely willing to go if we can get more people to do it. Think of it as an impromptu forum meet up . After all, we can all display outrage on this forum, but unless we use that anger towards changing what we perceive as an injustice, then nothing is accomplished and people like Councilwomen Morrison wins. If no one can do Shady Grove (it is short notice), then I think we should at least gather together to go to a city council meeting.

[dmwogan]

Speaking of the Council, check out this golden nugget from Brewster McCracken:

Got iPhone app Decibel. Tells db where you are. Traffic on Lavaca: 86 db. Inside of my car, radio off, AC on: 82 db. Cuatro's no music: 95.

Also, from the Austin 360 article it looks like they'll be talking about extensions at tonight's council meeting. Anyone going to that? I would go, but I'm going to the Super Troopers quote-along at the Drafthouse at 7...

[M1EK]

As usual, signs of sanity from McCracken, but spoken too quietly to be of any use. Hopefully he'll speak up more today.

[KevinFromTexas]

I talked to my brother about this the other day. We discussed who it was that made the 911 call. I told him that if it was who I and others suspected it was, then it was Jeff Jack. My brother actually said the name sounded familiar. I told him about Laura Morrison's fake concern in the issue too. We also talked about how ridiculous the 70 db law is. So the talk is getting out there. He said he was listening to KLBJ, and they had a lot of angry callers. Of course the media is dancing around the issue, pretending that the noise is a problem and that the city is actually trying to work with them. Nevermind the fact that one of the elected officials is involved and a bunch of crabby old neighbors.

[M1EK]

Gary Etie had this correction today:

In the prior post “Death by a Thousand Cuts”, I incorrectly stated that the March 23rd expiration date, for all Outdoor Music Venue Permits issued after the January Moratorium was put in place, was the part of the Amendments passed by Council Member Laura Morrison, and others, was the reason Shady Grove’s “Unplugged at the Grove” was shut down last week.

In the news reports, I misread the expiration date of Shady Grove’s Outdoor Music Venue Permit, May 23rd, to be March 23rd, the date set in the Amendments passed between January 19th, and March 12th, as the Moratorium was put in place, a set of Amendments were put in place, and further amended almost every time they came up for discussion. (getting confused? see prior post !)

The fact is, the process takes so long now, that even had Shady Grove started the corporate process of preparing to file for a renewed Outdoor Music Venue Permit, under the newly amended Noise and Sound Ordinance, that process is eaten up by 1 1/2 months of mandated City of Austin processing time, set into the Amendments, to allow for Notification of everyone within 600 feet, Site Plans, Inspections by the Building Permit Department, public feedback, opposition by individuals or groups, etc., etc., etc. -that by last week, they would have still been in the middle of what is now an extreme barrier to business and live music, in Austin Texas.

[M1EK]

And Austin Contrarian has an even scarier possible consequence of the new rules: having to run the neighborhood gauntlet every single year

[M1EK]

The Chronicle finally covered the story, thanks to Wells Dunbar

City Hall Hustle: Songs in the Key of Council

excerpt:

By now it's known that the noise complaint against Shady Grove that handcuffed its summer concert series – until council retroactively waived its venue regulations for six months – originated from Scott Trainer, the task force's "neighborhood representative." Local blogger Mike "M1EK" Dahmus, always up for a neighborhood association beat-down, has further highlighted connections between Trainer and the Austin Neigh­bor­hoods Council. From there, it's a short step to Laura Morrison, the former ANC president, who, as council member, co-sponsored the item that would have created the music department and reworked music venue permitting earlier this year. In March, just prior to South by Southwest's music deluge, Morrison and Mike Martinez sponsored an "emergency" item taking effect immediately, which specified permitting requirements for venues. In pointing to decibel limits for music at restaurants, the item highlighted a historically unenforced requirement setting restaurant limits at 70 decibels instead of 85, which led to complaints ending music at Freddie's Place.

Read the whole article, please, and pass it around.

[KevinFromTexas]

I'm glad to see people are waking up a bit. Of course the Statesman wouldn't have covered it, but you can always rely on the Chronicle to write a story, even if it isn't nice and rosy. I really hope people read that and realize what's going on. I've heard so much BS about the complaints having come from condo owners. What condo owners? There isn't a single one around there yet. So far everything thing has come from the older neighborhoods that wring downtown, and it's not only the noise complaints, they want to keep downtown as if it belongs to some small West Texas town. Quiet and dead. We live in a good sized city, one with heart and soul that actually loves its downtown. I don't get these neighborhood associations that seem to want everything to just shut down.

[M1EK]

Actually, you have to give the Statesman credit this time around - they were the ones to publish Scott Trainer's name.

[M1EK]

Courtesy of Austin Contrarian

Obtaining a variance is no mere formality. The applicant is supposed to meet stringent standards -- including unique hardship -- which the Board of Adjustment must enforce to avoid waiver arguments in other cases. The BOA is subject to political pressure like any other institution, though, so my guess is it will grant the waiver.

This can't possibly go wrong, of course. Yay, Laura Morrison and the ANC!