People often complain about noisy neighbours, but what if next door was a bar patio blasting music into the early morning hours?
That’s what Kaylon Mullen and her partner Sarah Bezdek say they’re dealing with.
“Every night during the summer months we would stay up until the music was done and get really grumpy at each other and the business,” said Mullen. “It’s been really stressful.”
The couple moved to the downtown apartment in June, but the music blasting all summer long has meant they’ve considered moving.
“I don’t want to be in my own home and I shouldn’t have to move again,” Sarah Bezdek said.
Right now there are no restrictions or curfews for music on patios but City Councillor Mike Pagtakhan wants to turn the music off at 11 p.m. from Sunday to Thursday and closer to midnight on Friday and Saturdays.
“People have compared me to Jon Lithgow from Footloose, but I’m certainly not against music, I’m not against people enjoying patios, I’m certainly for that but we have to try and find a balance,” he said.
Some local restaurants are trying to be considerate of their neighbours, by turning the music down early, but they say it puts a damper on the mood.
“It just kind of loses the atmosphere after you turn off the music when you’ve got people up and dancing,” Nikki Hawrylyshen, from Hermanos Restaurant & Wine Bar said.
The proposed bylaw changes will be debated at City Hall on Monday.