When it comes to noise, leaders and residents of the southwest Utah town of Rockville are all ears.
After fielding complaints about excessive noise from raucous parties in west Rockville, the Planning Commission tweaked the town’s land-use code Tuesday to set time and decibel restrictions to curb the noise emanating from homes and vacation rentals. It also includes fines for violators. The recommended changes now will go to the Town Council for consideration.
“Hopefully, this will … be a solution and solve some of the problems some have had,” said Planning Commission Chairwoman Jane Brennan.
For longtime resident and retired government industrial hygienist Michael Behling, change can’t come soon enough. He maintains Rockville has been plagued for years by loud parties, which he says have involved biker gangs and drugs.
By Behling’s count, there was only one loud party in 2020, 13 in 2021 and 19 thus far this year.
“Rockville has become the Party Central of Washington County,” he said.
Town administrators acknowledge Behling’s concerns but believe they are overblown.
“I’m only aware of three people who have actually contacted the town to report incidents,” Mayor Pam Leach said.
While Behling argues noise is a nuisance all over Rockwell, he said the racket from properties in the vacation rental zone the town created in 2018 has been especially egregious. Situated in west Rockville between state Route 9 and the south side of the Virgin River, the zone is home to the Zion Red Rock Villa, Zion Red Rock Oasis and Zion Red Rock Chalet — all of which sleep large numbers of guests and host weddings, family reunions and corporate retreats.
Behling said the din from music, public address systems and singing and screaming guests at the gatherings are extremely disruptive.
Shelly Cox, who lives next to the Villa, said the events happen every week and can attract as many as 100 people.
“I don’t let it bother me, but they do get loud,” she said, adding she would rather be a good neighbor than complain.
Cox has had large buses mistakenly pull into her driveway, which she attributes to poor signage in the area. She also has had revelers knock on her door asking for things. On one occasion, she even found someone rummaging through her carport.
“When I walked out and asked, ‘What can I help you with?’ They told me they had a dead battery and needed jumper cables,” she recalled. “I told them, ‘You know I do have a door, you could knock.’ "
Behling uses sophisticated sound meters to measure and analyze the noise from events on the properties and maintains a meticulous electronic journal that contains details about each one. Over the years, he has conducted hundreds of sound checks. He said noise levels of some events – from 70 to 100 decibels or more – are so loud that he is sure some party-goers have suffered hearing loss.
“At that level, noise is not just a nuisance,” he said. “It’s a public health hazard. I’ve even had to wear earplugs in my house.”
As noisy as the parties are, Behling’s wife, Linda, is concerned about the crime the parties could bring.
“Most attending these parties or events are law-abiding citizens out for a good time,” she stated in a prepared statement handed to city planners at Tuesday’s meeting. “But there may come a time, [the] parties attract individuals who are on illegal drugs or are violent. We may have to deal with an active shooter situation in Rockville as these individuals are looking for a party in a rural area with little police involvement.”
Justin Maybe, owner of Zion Red Rock Villa LLC and the three properties in question, said such concerns are nonsense and reminiscent of the inflated ado over a pool table in the Broadway musical “The Music Man.” (Spoiler alert: The pool table isn’t the cause of all the town’s problems in the production.)
Maybe said he has people onsite at his properties to monitor noise levels and activities and has never had a rave or hosted biker gangs or drug users or had a problem with police.
“Have you looked at our reviews [on our website]?” he asked. “You don’t get reviews like that, which are not only some of the best in the region but in the state or country, by having a low-class clientele or operation. We pride ourselves on high-class guests and service. We try to keep a low profile and be good stewards and good neighbors.”
Springdale Police Lt. J.J. Ray concurs, saying Rockville’s noise problem is not worse than anywhere else.
“We have had noise complaints at those locations,” he said. “But any time that we’ve responded and asked them to quiet down, they have. Or we’ve gone there and couldn’t hear any noise at all.”
Springdale officers patrol Rockville, which does not have its own police force.
Town administrators hope the code changes will quiet critics.
In place of the old ordinance, which banned excessive noise after 10 p.m., the new language is much more specific. If adopted by the Town Council, it would limit nighttime noise levels from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. to 50 A-weighted decibels (dBA), which is about as loud as a quiet conversation. The revised code would restrict noise levels between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. to 60 dBA or less and daytime noises to 90 dBA.
Violators of the town’s noise restrictions would be assessed a $100 fine for the first hour they were not in compliance and $50 for each additional quarter-hour. Noise is defined in the code as the creation of noise that is uncharacteristic of noises typically heard in the neighborhood, and it covers everything from fighting and recreational shooting to loud music, shouting and car racing, among other things.
Leach says the changes will give the code more bite and a little more teeth and enforceability.
“I think Rockville is taking the proper steps,” the mayor said. “We are not Party Central. We are not losing control of our quiet town.”
