The N&R reports the proposed downtown noise ordinance on tonight’s Greensboro City Council agenda “was prompted by downtown residents bothered by night club noise.”
Said nightclub is Greene Street and its rooftop tent parties, and sources tell me said ‘downtown resident’ is high powered developer Roy Carroll, who lives two blocks away in his Center Pointe high-rise condo. Triadwatch says Mayor Robbie Perkins –who reportedly also lives in Center Pointe —- is losing sleep, too.
Whatever. Bottom line is this is another unintended consequence of cites promoting high-density urban development —Winston-Salem — which aggressively promotes its downtown— is also attempting to address noise issues.
As I’ve said before—- and as a commenter at Triadwatch puts it—- “like any good central planning scheme, cascading unintended consequences abound.” And while I realize that a state-of-the-art performing arts center isn’t exactly the same thing as a tent on the roof of a nightclub, the idea of placing it downtown, as UNCG professor David Wharton argues, is to drive more human traffic, which ostensibly would generate more (amplified) noise. You also have to wonder how the ordinance would affect an extra-inning game at new Bridge Bank Park, which Center Pointe overlooks.
I wonder if anyone’s thought about all this?
