Last week Baltimore City Council introduced a noise control policy which, if passed, would mean harsher enforcement of current noise restriction policies for students living off campus.
The proposal states that individuals in residential areas who exceed noise levels stipulated in the city health code could be fined up to $1,000 or imprisoned for up to a year. Two confirmed noise violations at the same address in two years would allow the city to close the property for a year.
The proposal would only affect how current noise ordinances are enforced, not the noise levels themselves. The current volume allowed by the health code is 55 decibels during the day and 50 decibels at night. 55 decibels is roughly the volume of a loud conversation. 50 decibels is slightly quieter.
Vice President of the City Council, Stephanie Rawlings Blake, introduced the proposal in response to constituent complaints regarding the noise levels of Towson and Loyola University students.
The policy would especially affect students living in fraternity houses or those who choose to host parties. It would also impact landlords and owners of bars and restaurants whose rental properties or businesses would be closed for a year if they were found to violate noise standards.
Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke, whose 14th district includes the Homewood campus, supports the proposal. "I think it would be very helpful," she said, "It's one more tool for trying to control excessive noise in neighborhoods."
According to Clarke, there are 26 houses in the 14th district that have been reported as a noise problem to their neighbors. All of them house Hopkins students.
Clarke said the aim of the law is to target landlords by forcing them to rein in disruptive tenants or lose a year's worth of revenue from the property. Asked if the law is intended to target students as well as landlords, she answered, "Yes, yes, yes. It would be a tool we could use."
She also acknowledged that the proposal could make it more difficult for students to find housing by making landlords reluctant to rent to them.
Nonetheless, she says that students should not oppose the proposal, since the majority of them are not a problem in the City's eyes.
"Most students live quiet, peaceful, normal lives. It's only a handful who cause problems. ... The vast majority of undergraduates are very busy trying to pass exams and graduate. They have normal parties like normal people," she said.
Sgt. Carrie Bennett, the student-community liaison officer, believes that the proposal, if enacted, would mostly target fraternities, especially those that own their own houses.
"Wouldn't that be the first place one might target?" she asked. "It wouldn't be difficult to catch them twice in two years."
But Bennett pointed out that fraternity members wouldn't be the only ones at risk of losing their homes. Any tenant could be told to "shut up or get out," by his or her landlord. "We could have students facing eviction," she said.
Senior Timothy Kernan, president of Phi Kappa Psi fraternity, said that he believes the law would be selectively enforced, with students being especially targeted.
"People watching a football game are going to be just as loud as a party at night," he said, but the party at night is much more likely to be reported to police.
He added that since most students are not registered to vote in Baltimore, they are more vulnerable to selective enforcement of the law without being able to vote on it.
Senior Aaron Landgraf, president of Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity, said that the proposed law would harm the fraternity's relations with the community. "Neighborhood relations are one of our top priorities," he said.
But, he noted, the law "would give them an excuse to call the cops on us," instead of discussing disagreements.
According to Landgraf, people who choose to live in neighborhoods near college campuses should expect some noise.
"We're a college community ... social life in a college community is different from a family-oriented community," he said.
President of Beta Theta Pi fraternity, junior Dan D'Orlando, said that student life in general is going be negatively affected if the proposal passes.
"[The City Council is] hindering social life here at Hopkins, and that's not a good thing," he said.
D'Orlando acknowledged that living next to a fraternity could be difficult.
"If I was older and it happened to be next to a frat house, legitimately I'd be really upset and want something to happen," he said.
But he does not believe that this proposal is an appropriate response. "I think it's a little absurd," he said.
Senior Tony Sheh lives on E. University Parkway and often hosts parties for the Taekwondo club. Although Sheh has never received noise complaints, to him,the proposal is a bad idea.
"I don't see how the law could positively affect anyone," he said. "You can't just control everyone like that."
Senior Blake Trettien called the proposal "draconian" and "misguided." Trettien, who also lives on E. University, was arrested last year after a neighbor called the police to a party at his house.
"The neighborhood needs to realize that we are part of the neighborhood. Mary Pat Clarke and people like her focus too much on using the police," he said.
"People are going to have parties, and that's not illegal," he added.
Trettien urged students to get involved in local politics. "I think Hopkins students need to start making some noise," he said.
Susan Boswell, dean of student life, does not believe the proposal will succeed, saying, "I suspect this is an ordinance that they're going to have a whole lot of trouble passing. ... I can't imagine it being passed." She admitted that if passed, the policy would have a "huge impact on everybody in the community."
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