S. Potomac Residents Concerned Hagerstown Failing to Enforce Noise Ordinance

HAGERSTOWN, MD News (2/29/2024) – Over the past several years, downtown Hagerstown has seen a transformation in its Arts and Entertainment District. What was once vacant storefronts is now filled with restaurants and shops. However, some residents have expressed concern that the city is willfully failing to enforce its own ordinances despite multiple complaints, in order to keep those restaurants and shops in downtown.

The business which multiple residents sent in concerns regarding is Vibez Lounge, located at 49 South Potomac Street in Hagerstown. According to their Facebook, Vibez is classified as a restaurant, and per an August 2022 post, “the only lounge in downtown Hagerstown for lovers of Hip Hop, R&B and reggae!” The business routinely holds events with cover charges on Saturday nights, including their most recent “40 and over party” held on February 24, 2024 from 9 PM to 2 AM.

Hagerstown Mayor Tekesha Martinez made her announcement of her congressional run at a campaign event held at Vibez Lounge on July 12, 2023. When examining Federal Election Commission records, Radio Free Hub City was unable to locate a payment to Vibez for the campaign event, or an in-kind donation for the event.

Looking at Hagerstown’s Noise Ordinance

Hagerstown’s noise ordinance is written as follows:

dBA – The abbreviation for the sound level in decibels determined by the A-weighting network of a sound-level meter or by calculation from octave-band or one-third-octave-band data.

DAYTIME ON WEEKDAYS – 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.; weekday evening begins on Sunday.

DAYTIME ON WEEKENDS – 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.; weekend evening begins on Friday.

Except as otherwise specified in this chapter, a person must not cause or permit excessive noise that exceeds the following at distances specified in the subsections below:

	Daytime	Nighttime
Residential area	65 dBA	55 dBA
Commercial area	67 dBA	62 dBA
Industrial area	75 dBA	75 dBA

When the noise source is located on private property, the noise is measured at or outside the property boundary of the noise source or at any point within any other property affected by the noise.

When the noise source is located in a public right-of-way or other public space, the noise is measured at least 100 feet from the noise source.

When the noise source is located within a structure containing more than one dwelling unit, the noise is measured from common areas within or outside the structure or from other dwelling units within the structure, when requested to do so by the owner or tenant in possession and control thereof. The noise shall be measured at a point at least four feet from the wall, ceiling or floor nearest the noise source, with the doors to the receiving area closed and windows in the normal position for the season.

City of Hagerstown Code § 155-4 Noise exceeding measurable standards.

Measuring the Noise Levels at Vibez Lounge

Utilizing the standards published by the City of Hagerstown, Radio Free Hub City used a MT-911A Decibel Meter (which includes A-weighting) and measured the dBA from a “common area within or outside the structure” (the sidewalk in front of Vibez outside of the window) on Saturday, February 24th at approximately 10:45 PM, with no open doors or windows visible. The resulting measurements exceeded not just commercial area limits, but industrial area limits. This undoubtedly resulted in a significant disturbance to residents in the apartments near Vibez, with noise peaking at 77 dBA. For comparison, noise levels immediately next to traffic in the square on the same evening registered at 67 dBA, and much lower once we were at least 100 feet from the traffic. Decibel scale is logarithmic, so the noise coming from Vibez was approximately 3 times as loud as standing next to traffic in the square of Hagerstown.

Interestingly enough, while Radio Free Hub City was in Hagerstown taking noise measurements, three Hagerstown Police cruisers were outside of the Maryland Theatre, for what appears to be an unrelated call. The loud noise from Vibez could be heard from outside the Maryland Theatre, but we did not observe any of the officers walk up to Vibez to investigate. Hagerstown Police Department left the area while we were still taking noise level measurements. A full video is available of our noise measurements, and will be shared with City of Hagerstown upon their request. Since there were multiple people and vehicles in the video, we will not be making it available publicly to respect their privacy.

Comparing Similar Businesses

We took this investigation a step further, and decided to compare noise complaints against Vibez Lounge with other businesses in Hagerstown with similar operating hours. In the two-year window we examined, Vibez had a total of 12 noise complaints, while other businesses with similar operating hours on Saturdays had none.

Business	Address	Noise	Disorderly	Undesirable	Drug/CDS
Vibez Lounge	49 S. Potomac	12 (0)	7 (0)	1 (1)	1 (1)
R&K Pub	15 E. Baltimore	0	4 (0)	2 (0)	1 (0)
The Broad Axe	28 W. Franklin	0	6 (0)	9 (0)	2 (0)
Friendly Pub	213 W. Franklin	0	0	1 (0)	2 (1)

The City of Hagerstown’s Response

When asked by one of the concerned residents if anyone from the city would be willing to come to affected homes take noise measurements, City Administrator Scott Nicewarner responded that “Staff are not going to go into private apartments.”

EDITOR’S NOTE: Hagerstown Code allows for staff to enter private apartments as part of a noise complaint if those apartments are part of the same structure, and requested to do so by the tenant of the apartment.

In a response to the resident’s inquiry regarding the city’s lack of addressing their complaints, Nicewarner replied “Unless there are violations of the noise ordinance or any other issue that occurs outside of the establishment, nothing will be done. HPD and Code officials have responded on numerous occasions and have found no violations per our regulations.”

Nicewarner followed up his response with the statement that “The elected body and staff have worked hard to make the Arts and Entertainment District a vibrant area. For years, that was not happening in downtown. It is now, and will only continue as new pubs / bars / restaurants and a new stadium open in the near future. … There will be those that enjoy that type of atmosphere and would find living in it something they want to do. Personal preference to live in the environment they wish.”

Residents Feel Ignored by Mayor and City Council

Prior to our investigation, multiple local residents have complained to the City of Hagerstown regarding the failure of the city to address noise complaints, with no relief.

“Because the city is refusing to hold them accountable or even address them, they will continue to do this because they have gotten away with it,” stated a resident in a complaint submitted to the City of Hagerstown, “We have complained to the Chiefs office, the Mayor’s office, the liquor board, but NOTHING has been done or seems to be happening. Enough is enough. If you want the City of Hagerstown to be a location that is taken seriously and really become something extraordinary, then start correcting the wrongs that are going on in your city.”

One of the residents who contacted us under the condition of anonymity stated to Radio Free Hub City, “…in 3 years we have all complained, the mayor and or city council did not respond to a single email, only the city administrator,” to which the resident added “None of them still to this day have responded, and that their silence has positioned themselves with the city administrator in stating deal with it or move.” The resident requested their name be withheld due to fear of retaliation. A separate resident expressed concerns to Radio Free Hub City that Vibez may be receiving special treatment due to their hosting the campaign kickoff event of Mayor Martinez. That resident also requested their name be withheld, due to similar concerns regarding retaliation.

While the City of Hagerstown claims there are no noise ordinance violations occurring at Vibez Lounge, clearly our own firsthand investigation has shown otherwise.

Story by Ken Buckler, President and Managing Editor.