Will Petition Supporting Val Air Speak Louder Than Complaints About Noise?

Chewi Lockhart and the Val Air Ballroom have collected more than 1,000 signatures on an online petition they’ll present Monday to the West Des Moines City Council asking that the venue be exempted from the city’s noise ordinance.

According to the group’s Facebook page, signatures include those of nearly 200 residents who live closer to the Val Air, located at 301 Ashworth Road, than Des Moines Waterbury Neighborhood residents who have complained about low-frequency bass.

What, if anything, should the West Des Moines City Council do in response to the petition? Tell us in comments.

Via the Facebook page, the Val Air Ballroom asks residents of West Des Moines “and those who live in the Waterbury Neighborhood who support the Val Air Ballroom” to attend Monday’s meeting and “join us in showing the council that the majority of Val Air neighbors can live in harmony with this local landmark. …  It is time for the vocal minority to adjust and adapt, as well.”

The online petition is in response to increased pressure from some Waterbury residents, who have organized an awareness campaign that Lockhart says amounts to influencing people living in the neighborhood to step up their level of complaints to trigger decibel readings, citations and, ultimately, the historic venue's closure.

After the Val Air recently received its third noise violation ticket in a year in November, City Manager Greg Sparks wrote that “given the petitions that are going around regarding noise from the Val Air, as well as the pending enforcement action from the city of West Des Moines, it would be in the Val Air’s best interest to be as proactive as possible in making sure that there are no future violations of the city’s noise ordinance.”

In response to a perceived threat, Lockhart says as-yet unnamed individuals may circulate a “save the Val Air” petition asking city officials to exempt the ballroom from compliance with the noise ordinance the West Des Moines City Council approved after Waterbury residents complained several years ago.

Lockhart and Russ Bitterman, the Waterbury neighborhood’s liaison on noise ordinance issues to West Des Moines officials, disagree on the intent of the efforts in Bitterman’s neighborhood. Lockhart thinks the Des Moines residents are trying to shut down the Val Air, something Bitterman vehemently denies.

“They’re trying to vilify us, but we’re not the wrongdoers,” Bitterman told Patch last fall. “We’re not going over there protesting and picketing. But we can’t do things in our own homes. … All we want is peace and quiet.”