Council supports bylaw exemption

By Craig Hagerman, Special to B-cause

A request to lift a city-wide noise bylaw was at the forefront of issues facing council last week.

Ralph Spoltore, co-owner of Legacy Card, a community based organization, approached council on April 6 to request an extension to city bylaw 59-80 to allow a still unnamed headliner band to play music at Lions Park past the city’s usual quiet hours of 11 pm at the upcoming Walter Gretzky Street Hockey Tournament taking place this year from Jun 4 – 6. Though the tournament is in its 4th year, this is the first year the outdoor concert will be held.
“My goal is to create an event that is more than just a street hockey tournament,” said Spoltore. “This is going to be a shot in the arm for the city of Brantford and we’re going to do our very best to make Brantford proud.”

Spoltore is excited about the quality of bands scheduled to play at the concert and believes that the headliner band may very well be asked to play an encore or two on Friday and Saturday night, which could push the concert past 11:00 pm. As a result, he approached council to extend the bylaw to 1:00 am on June 4 and 5, two hours past the usual period in which noise is exempted.

In a letter issued March 25, Brantford Police Services stated their inability to support such an exemption.

“Unfortunately we will not be able to support an exemption of the Noise Control Bylaw as community members are entitled to peace and quiet,” the letter reads. “If we allow this, the Brantford Police Service will be put in an uncomfortable position when citizens call to complain.”

Despite the letter, the majority of councillors were in favour of a bylaw exemption to allow the concert to take place, as they believed it was for a good cause. Last year’s tournament brought in close to $22,000 and drew 92 teams from across North America.

Councillor John Bradford, however, opposed the bylaw being lifted, citing the disruption to seniors in the nursing home across the Grand River from the concert as the cause.
“I think we can achieve the same goals without offending the seniors,” he said.

Councillor Carpenter disagreed.

“It’s not about supporting one group or another; it’s about supporting the community,” he said.

Council supported the bylaw exemption in a 10 to 1 vote.

Yes – Sless, Bucci, Carpenter, Kinneman, Ceschi-Smith, Littell, Martin, Calnan, McCreary, Mayor Hancock.

No – Bradford.