West Des Moines Council Delays Val Air Noise Discussion for 2 Weeks

Residents spoke on both sides of ongoing complaints about the Val Air Ballroom’s compliance with a city sound ordinance, but the West Des Moines City Council on Monday declined to discuss the issue until a workshop in two weeks.

When the sound ordinance was discussed in August, council members said the law seemed to be working well and it wouldn’t be revisited again until August 2012.

However, a spate of violation citations against the Val Air and a determined effort in Des Moines’ nearby Waterbury Neighborhood to affect the ordinance mean “it’s time for all (parties) to get involved and not wait until August 2012,” said Mayor Steven Gaer.

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Gaer wanted to postpone all discussion, including the presentation of an online petition with the signatures of 1,250 people who favor exempting the Val Air from the city’s sound ordinance.

“I’d appreciate it if the Friends of Val Air could designate a couple of people to go over the issues they want us to hear,” Gaer said. “Waterbury can also designate people. We want to keep it focused and organized.”

However, Ward 1 Councilman Kevin Trevillyan, in whose ward the Val Air is located, said it was unfair not to allow the residents to speak.

“People are here,” he said. “Let’s talk now.”

With that, Edye Beckerman, the leader of the Friends of the Val Air group, presented the council with a petition bearing 1,250 signatures obtained online and another 44 obtained during a Waterbury Neighborhood canvas.

The petition was in response to an awareness campaign residents of Val Air have conducted to try to sway West Des Moines officials into toughening the city’s sound ordinance. The Val Air has received three noise ordinance violations, two of which have been adjudicated, within a year, which could trigger penalties against the venerable West Des Moines institution.

The city's noise ordinance allows police to issue a citation if the decibel reading is 3 decibels above readings of the ambient noise level. The two citations that have been adjudicated were based on readings of 77 decibels and 81 decibels. A third violation that has yet to go through the court system was for a decibel reading of 91 at a Day Glow concert in November.

According to the Friends of the Val Air group’s statement, presented as part of the petition, representatives of the group spoke with 73 residents and obtained 44 signatures from people who support the exemption. The group claims that “60 percent of the Waterbury residents stand behind an exemption for the Val Air Ballroom.”

Waterbury Resident: Exemption Sends the Wrong Message

That group doesn’t include Bill Brown, 6055 N. Waterbury Drive, who said his house is one of the closest to the Val Air in his neighborhood.

“I’m frankly offended the Val Air would seek to exempt themselves,” Brown said. “It’s sort of like if you had a company that polluted the air or water seeking to exempt themselves.”

Brown was involved negotiating an uneasy truce between the Val Air and Waterbury residents two years ago as West Des Moines was considering its sound ordinance.

“Frankly, Waterbury residents thought it was too lenient, but decided to give it a try,” he said. “Despite the leniency, they’ve received three citations and are now trying to exempt themselves. … I would hope you would not entertain the petition to exempt them. … It sends the wrong message.”

Mark Cooper, who lives at 5811 Walnut Hill Ave. in the Waterbury Neighborhood, argued the opposite. “It’s a wonderful institution,” he said of the Val Air, the venue where his parents met. “I think the good majority in the Waterbury Neighborhood do not have a problem with the Val Air at all.”

Jill Eckert, who works in West Des Moines’ city development office, said she has been disappointed in how the situation has played out, both from the standpoint of the City Council and the Val Air.

“Why can’t we make it a win-win?” she said. “I just hope you really think about what you’re doing, especially for economic development in the city of West Des Moines.”

When the council takes up the issue again at its workshop session in two weeks, representatives of the police department, city attorney’s office, Val Air Ballroom and the Waterbury Neighborhood will be at the table.

“Nobody wants to close the Val Air,” Gaer said. “On the other hand, nobody wants to be reasonably interfered with in their own home. Our goal is to find a way to balance the two.”