Laurel residents attended a recent meeting of Mayor and Council to express concerns about what they feel are issues of “nuisance-type” activities in their neighborhood. Richard and Melody Davis reside in the area of West 6th Street and said they are having to deal with dogs that bark at all hours of the night and early morning.
The Davis’ said they are very appreciative of the positive things that are occurring in Laurel, including improvements to commercial and residential properties and a proposed initiative to display flags honoring local veterans on telephone poles in the community. “We’ve been approached by many people telling us, maybe we should get out of town,” Richard Davis said. “We made Laurel our home, and so we’re dedicated to trying to improve the community. We really appreciate the idea of displaying the veteran flags. I have been in towns throughout the country where I’ve seen those and it just it touches my heart.”
Davis said, however, there have been less positive things happening in his neighborhood that he feel are “bothersome.” One issue is poorly kept properties. “I’ll talk about trash and debris, just junk. It just trashes up the whole neighborhood. And for people that are traveling through the town to see that; I’m sure it’s a nuisance to them as well. This type of thing makes a big difference towards the quality of life in our community.”
He went on to address noise problems, namely with dogs barking. “We live in a neighborhood where some people recently moved in in July, and they’ve got three dogs penned up in their backyard, and they have a fourth in the house. It really is a problem, but the dogs in the backyard they bark incessantly at certain hours including at night when you’re sleeping, one o’clock, two o’clock, three o’clock in the morning,” Davis said.
He asked who was he to reach out to when the dogs are barking when his family and guests are trying to sleep. “I just want to know where to turn to. We talked to several different folks. Is it the council? Is it the mayor? Is it the police department? Where do we turn to when these dogs are barking?” he asked.
Town Manager Jamie Smith said there is a noise ordinance in the town, so the police would be the source to respond to a noise complaint. “We do have an ordinance for barking dogs, and so if there’s an issue, then you could call the police department,” Smith said. “Officers would need to go out, and they could issue a fine or give a warning, depending on how the officer chooses to handle it.”
Laurel Police Chief Rob Kracyla was in attendance at the meeting and explained that noise complaints are typically investigated using a decibel meter to determine if a given noise meets the town’s decibel level making it a violation. According to hear.com, noises over 70 decibels can lead to hearing loss over a sustained period of time, these would include a car horn within 16-feet, motorcycle, or even certain household appliances. Decibel levels over 120 can damage hearing more quickly, including noises from a jackhammer, rock concert, or a gunshot. A dog barking in the ear registers at about 110 decibels. A sound level meter can measure the decibel level of a particular noise.
Kracyla said this type of measure makes it difficult to determine that barking dogs would violate the noise ordinance as written. He said it may be more of a nuisance property violation.
Smith said Laurel does have a nuisance ordinance that applies to rental properties. Nuisance complaints that are investigated and found to be credible, are issued a certain number of points, depending on the type of nuisance identified. Once a property reaches 12 points within a six-month period the town can fine the property owner, or even revoke the rental license.
Smith said she will contact the town’s attorney to see if there may be any additional legal remedies available through town ordinances to address the Davis’ concerns.
Melody Davis said she agrees with her husband that there are many positive things happening in Laurel, but the issue of excessive rental properties seems to be a deterrent to the positive development of the community. “In my heart I feel that ultimately what’s going to be for the betterment and the advancement of Laurel is homeownership in the town,” she said. “Nearly 50 percent of the properties in town are rental properties, and growing. I am aware of a rental property in Laurel where the property owner jokes about being a slumlord. We cannot have this type of thing in the community regardless of how many things you are doing to make the town better. You can have parks and sidewalks and pretty new buildings, but you cannot address quality of life without promoting homeownership.”
Melody Davis suggested the town consider a moratorium on new rental properties, but was told that could not be done. She said she agrees with Council President Chris Calio, who said at a recent meeting that if he owned a house and decided to move, he should be allowed to rent the home he is leaving.
“I agree with Councilman Calio, but this is not what is happening in Laurel,” she said. “Properties are becoming available and people are snatching the properties up cheap and then making them rental properties. In many cases they are taking single homes and renting them to multiple families.”
Davis requested that the town consider checking with its attorney about whether it may be possible to place stipulations on issuing rental licenses. The stipulation would be that the home must be owner occupied for a certain amount of time before it can be licensed as a rental. “I feel this would put an end to concerns about property rentals,” she said. “It’s a handful of people that are snatching up these houses, and they’re dictating the way the rest of us live in this community, and that’s just not fair. This handful of people, one of which proudly wears the moniker ‘slumlord,’ can dictate the quality of life for us, who are homeowners, and the rest of the community.”
Davis said she is fearful of where this trend in rental properties will take the town in 10 years’ time. “I see the houses around me, it breaks my heart,” she said. “The older people who can’t keep them up or go into a nursing home, their property winds up being snatched up cheap and becomes rental homes with multiple families. I’m presenting tonight that you consider checking with your attorneys and at least give some thought to the idea that when the town issues a rental license, some kind of stipulation applies that the property must be occupied by the new owner for a certain period of time.”
Town Manager Smith said she would discuss this concept with the attorney.
