TRI In The News

‘Free Speech’ Zones Scratched

From The Virginia Gazette

Original article available here

WILLIAMSBURG – When City Council considered creating “free speech” zones in the Historic Area to cope with loud demonstrators and street preachers, the idea raised the threat of a lawsuit from the Rutherford Institute, a conservative civil rights group.

The city is apparently backing down. The new solution isn’t to tell speakers where they can speak, but how loud. Staff is recommending tweaking the noise ordinance to 75 decibels during the day and 65 decibels at night on public streets and sidewalks. The current ordinance is 65 and 55, respectively, within 10 feet.

The chiming of church bells would be exempt, along with activities by Colonial Williamsburg such as the “Revolutionary City” street theater.

City Manager Jack Tuttle said Friday, “We hope this will solve the problem” without “raising the objections we heard to the previous proposal.”

The problem, as defined specifically by the Fat Canary and the Trellis restaurants, is that noisy street preachers on Duke of Gloucester Street rattle their customers.

The city’s initial response was to ponder “demonstration areas” that were well away from the restaurants. The earlier idea would have moved them and ban amplification without a permit. Tuttle said the new approach doesn’t address amplification. “It’s not amplification, it’s a decibel level,” he said.

City police have portable decibel meters. “They can respond to the complaint by measuring the noise level and ticket offenders,” Tuttle said, though they’re likely to clam up at the sight of an officer.

Violation would carry a $300 fine for a first offense and $500 for a second offense within 12 months. A subsequent offense carries up to a year in jail and up to a $2,500 fine.