Montana’s owner feels ‘railroaded’ in Milton

Montana's Bar and Grill owner Cary Eubanks says he's being singled-out and "railroaded" by city staff and residents in Bethany Creek over noise coming from his establishment into the neighborhood.

The City Council is poised to enact a new noise ordinance that Eubanks says is aimed directly at curtailing his business.

"Live music is important to us staying alive and being successful," he said. "If I can't do bands on the weekend, I'm losing a lot of volume. We're all in a down economy right now. I don't want to say this will bury us, but it's certainly not going to help us."

Eubanks has been in a fight with neighboring homeowners in Bethany Creek for years over music coming from his converted Ace Hardware greenhouse. Formerly Mike Ken's Rafters, the late-night eatery was there before the subdivisions in the area.

Many thought the issue would be resolved when the city passed its decibel-based noise ordinance in April 2007, but that was just the beginning.

Though Eubanks has been fined just once for actually exceeding Milton's established 60 decibel maximum, residents continue to call police every weekend and most Tuesdays.

At its Oct. 13 work session, City Council again heard from angry homeowners and tenants in the area. Eubanks was not invited to attend and only found out about the meeting afterward.

He said had no idea about the meeting or the push to change the ordinance, which was attended by Bethany Creek residents. Thus, he was absent during the discussion to change the noise ordinance.

Public Safety Driector Chris Lagerbloom, who was acting City Manager at the time, said the meeting was clearly advertised on the city's Web site.

"I guess the people in the neighborhood heard about it that way," he said.

At the meeting Lagerbloom told council he believed one solution was to drop the allowable level at night by 10 decibels, to 50. He also told council Milton's existing noise ordinance was "conservative," and more restrictive than others in the area. At that meeting, Lagerbloom said Eubanks "must have tape on the amplifier" because he's always just on the threshold for allowable noise when officers take readings.

"Of course we use tape," said Eubanks. "We use it to stay within the ordinance – that's why there's numbers on your speedometer. Am I happy with 60 decibels? No. Have I stayed under it? Yes.

"Why do they continue to screw with me if I'm not outside the law?"

The new ordinance is set to be read for the first time Nov. 3. Council will officially discuss it two weeks later, and Lagerbloom said Eubanks has ample time to speak his peace.

"Council might hear what he has to say and may not change the ordinance," he said.

Eubanks is skeptical. He refuted claims he hadn't been cooperative, citing an Aug. 5 letter sent to City Manager Billy Beckett regarding a meeting with a sound engineer picked by a Bethany Creek resident. The letter was never passed on to Lagerbloom or council as promised when Beckett resigned, he said.

Lagerbloom would not comment on the letter, saying he hadn't seen it. He did note, however, that Eubanks hadn't carried out the all recommendations of the engineer, which included shield trees and other sound muffling measures.

"They [Bethany Creek residents] haven't spent one dime," said Eubanks. "I've spent $80,000. I'm the one person they're adjusting the ordinance to. If they change the decibel reading to anything under what they've got now, it'll be against the law to sit on your back deck and carry on a conversation."

Lagerbloom said that's simply not true. The Public Safety Director said the city is choosing a citywide approach as opposed to a "city versus Montana's one." At the work session, he warned council about changing a law to solve one problem – though Montana's and to a much lesser extent Milton High School, which is exempt for games and other events, were the only noise violators, he said.

"Frankly, if we wanted to go after him, we would go after the noise he's producing, amplified musical noise," said Lagerbloom.

But he noted city attorney Ken Jarrard recommended against an ordinance that singled out a generator of noise, this case amplified music, rather for an ordinance not concerning what's making the noise.

Eubanks said that was immaterial.

"I took a noise reading one night after the band had played. The crickets were 65 decibels," he said.
- www.northfulton.com

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