Are Mi Patio Noise Complaints Exaggerated?

What if Hyattsville doesn't have a Mi Patio noise problem, but instead has a problem with area residents crying wolf over neighborhood noise?

It's one way to interpret the data behind the noise complaints which some residents have lodged against Mi Patio, the West Hyattsville restaurant which has applied for a permit allowing expanded entertainment options. The application has drawn opposition from some nearby residents who complain of hooliganism, late night noise and regulatory issues at the restaurant.

According to police incident logs provided to Hyattsville Patch by the Hyattsville City Police Department, police responded to Mi Patio for noise complaints 23 times over the last 23 months. However, the vast majority of those complaints, 17, were reported to be simply unfounded. Hyattsville police only advised Mi Patio restaurant management of a noise issue on seven occasions in the past 23 months.

So does that mean noise problems are being exaggerated at the establishment, or that other neighborhood noise sources are being pegged on Mi Patio? From the data readily available, the answer can be hard to come by, according to Hyattsville City Police Chief Doug Holland.  

Short of questioning the individual officers who responded to each noise complaint, said Holland, it can be difficult to determine the exact circumstances behind each incident, because the calls for service resulted in few actual reportable events.

Hyattsville's noise ordinance does not entirely prohibit noise from encroaching into your home or property. Rather, it prohibits that noise from rising above a certain level, depending on zoning, when measured inside a property "reasonably adjacent" to the source of the noise. In residential areas of the city, if noise from an adjacent property can be heard inside a neighbor's home at levels above 60 decibels during the day and above 50 decibels during the night, then you are in violation of the ordinance. In commercial areas, your noise is not allowed to be heard in adjascent properties at levels above 72 decibels during the day and 62 decibels at night.

For comparison, according to data from Industrial Noise Control, 72 decibels is roughly equivalent to the sound of freeway traffic from 50 feet away. 60 decibels can roughly be compared to the sound of an air conditioning unit at 100 feet. 50 decibels can be roughly compared to the sound of a large electrical transformer at 100 feet. If the noise you hear inside your home isn't doesn't exceed those levels, then there may be little that city authorities can do.

Related reading:

Council Wants Public Hearing on Mi Patio Application

Mi Patio: What's at Stake?

City Staff Against Mi Patio Application