East Lansing officials appear to be just two weeks away from finalizing changes to a party noise ordinance that one MSU student said has "come a long way" and another called "a hollow attempt" to calm concerned residents.
City Council held a public hearing on the proposed changes Tuesday in the Union Ballroom. Two East Lansing residents and three MSU students took the opportunity to speak up on the issue.
Kevin Lappe, an economics sophomore, argued that debate over the noise ordinance is indicative of a larger rift between students and permanent residents.
"I've witnessed a steady and alarming erosion of students' rights," Lappe told the council. "The noise ordinance as it stands today has proven to be discriminatory."
The existing party noise law allows police to ticket party hosts if two or more indicators are present. The five indicators include a common source of alcohol, a live band, a charge for admission or to drink, speakers placed or directed outside and having more than one person on the premises for every 20 square feet of habitable space.
Although no one has served jail time since the party noise offense was created in 2003, the law allows for a maximum penalty of three days in jail.
Under the revised law — which replaces any mention of "party noise" with "aggravating conditions" — the jail time penalty is removed. Instead, offenders convicted of a misdemeanor can be given a maximum of 72 hours of community service.
The changes to the law require that more than 50 people be present for the aggravating conditions penalties to apply, and add outdoor drinking games as a sixth indicator.
Mayor Sam Singh said that the council intends to vote on the issue during their May 2 meeting.
"Forget drinking games. Students love them; they will continue to play them whether you penalize them or not," said Patrick Singler, an interdisciplinary humanities senior. "It will just cause them to move inside, where they'll still create noise and still continue to binge drink."
Singler's comments drew a round of applause from students present in the audience.
Lappe said the proposed law is in need of "drastic" revisions.
"The way it stands now, it's doing nothing but alienating students," he said.
But University Student Commission chairman Steve Japinga, a political science and pre-law junior, was more accepting of the proposed changes.
Revisions that restrict the aggravated penalties only to large parties and eliminate jail time as a penalty are both wins for students, Japinga said.
"I understand that there's some students who are going to be angry," he said. "You have to compromise."
Kristin Pennock, an East Lansing resident, said the existing noise ordinance has had a positive impact on the community.
"The noise has definitely gone down since the ordinance went into effect," said Pennock, who lives near a number of student rentals.
