The Charlottesville City Council decided this week to postpone any decision on whether to raise the penalties for noise offenses in areas bordering the University.
Police have received 264 complaints and issued 33 warnings and 12 citations this fall, Charlottesville Police Lieut. Ronnie Roberts said. City law mandates that noise cannot exceed 55 decibels between the hours of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. in residential areas.
The noise complaints largely come from the Venable neighborhoods, whose residents approached the City in August to push for harsher punishments for those breaking noise regulations. Council decided at that time not to raise the fines for first-time noise violations from $250 to $1,000, with the added possibility of jail time.
Fourth-year Commerce student Andy Colberg, Inter-Fraternity Council president, said there has already been a huge effort by the University’s Greek organizations to address the community’s concerns, including increasing trash cleanups, moving all parties indoors and holding conversations with their neighbors.
“I’m a big fan of getting everyone involved around the table and opening up avenues of communication,” Colberg said. “I don’t see any need for administrative penalties.”
These efforts have had positive impacts on the community already, Roberts said, reducing the number of complaints from 312 this time last year.
“I would call it student self-compliance,” Roberts. “Students are taking some initiative on their own to address noise complaints.”
Colberg said the postponed potential changes would impact Greek life around Grounds, disincentivizing students from taking on leadership roles in Greek organizations because of the threat of fines and potential jail time hanging over their heads.
“[The proposed changes] would have a massive, massive effect,” Colberg said. “It would fundamentally change how we view our social life at the University.”
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