Live music venues to call for relaxed noise restrictions

Downtown condo dwellers who've long complained about late night reveling may not be singing a very happy tune Monday afternoon. A city committee will be told that live music clubs should be allowed to  make more noise, if the industry is to thrive.

Spencer Sutherland, a club owner and member of the Music Industry Advisory Council, will explain why he thinks higher — not lower — noise thresholds could help the downtown economy.

• Later last call could bring in billions for Toronto, bar owner tells councillors
• Toronto council committee wants to study the appointment of a nightlife czar

In an interview with CBC Toronto, Sutherland said in the past six weeks, six major clubs have shut their doors and he said noise complaints are the number two reason why, after skyrocketing rents.

"What we're seeing now is an unprecedented rate of music venue closures in this city," he said. "It's reaching a crisis point."

But Ian Carmichael of the Toronto Noise Coalition, who plans to be at Monday's meeting, denies that a more generous noise allowance would help the city's music venues.

"There's no data that they're dying because of noise complaints," he said. "They're dying because people want to build condos and the land value has gotten to such a point that a club is no longer economically viable."

Sutherland said that although it's not yet been measured in Toronto, the night-time economy in some cities is worth tens of billions of dollars a year.

And those who are content to see clubs die out, or be relegated to less heavily populated parts of the city. "are neglecting the fact that music brings a huge economy with it — that music brings huge value to restaurants, value to the neighbourhood. And it attracts tourists."

Both Carmichael and Sutherland sit on a panel that's working to update the city's noise bylaw, and both agree that what's needed are solid, measureable noise limits. At present, complaints are often judged according to the effect they're having on residents "quality of life," Sutherland said, which is far too subjective a measure.

Coun. Joe Cressy (Ward 20, Trinity-Spadina), who represents the entertainment district, says he's been working to get the two sides singing from the same songbook. 

But in the end, he says, it'll be up to the businesspeople and residents to find common ground on a reasonable, acceptable noise level.

"It sounds Kumbaya, but actually at the end of the day, it's about living and working and playing music together," Cressy said.