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Resident Elaine Carroll urges Calera City to curb loud speakers, add privacy measures at Eagle Sports Complex
Summary
Resident Elaine Carroll told the council she and her family have endured recurring weekend loud music, rolling PA systems and incursions onto their yard from the adjacent Eagle Sports Complex; staff said signage and gate/landscape changes will be reviewed while council approved a separate fence purchase for a football field.
Elaine Carroll, a Calera resident, told the city council that weekend tournaments at the Eagle Sports Complex have repeatedly woken her family as early as 7:00 a.m. and rattled the windows of her house.
"It's beyond frustrating to wake up to music and to go to bed hearing the music," Carroll said, describing speakers and rolling PA systems so loud they set off the dogs and "rattle the windows." She said players and spectators have entered the thin buffer behind her yard, sometimes throwing balls and peering into her family's pool area.
Parks and recreation staff (Seth) said the city plans to post signs asking visitors not to play music louder than a level that carries beyond about 50 feet and that staff will ask tournament organizers to keep volumes down. "Our noise ordinance says from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.," Seth said; staff added the city is requesting 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. as the practical preferred window for tournaments.
The police chief explained the department's typical enforcement approach: officers first advise those creating the nuisance and issue citations only if repeated calls show a continuing nuisance at the time of the officer's presence. "If it's after 10:00 p.m., what we will typically do is go to the complainant first...If we get called out again, then we'll cite them," the chief said, noting a key enforcement challenge is staffing and that officers are not at every city facility at all times.
Carroll asked the council to require gates be locked or to add fencing or a vegetative buffer between the fields and nearby homes. Staff said locking the gate at one access point is feasible and that planting evergreens and reviewing fence options would be investigated, but also warned a full perimeter fence would be expensive and that people can still access open land in places where a perimeter cannot be fully closed.
Council members and staff stressed the difficulty of enforcement without an objective decibel standard. One staff member suggested using a decibel meter to set an enforceable threshold, but added such a program would require equipment, training and staff time. "I've seen some cities try to do some sort of decibel ... so it's objective," a staff member said.
The council voted earlier in the meeting to approve a separate capital purchase for a permanent fence at a football field intended to improve crowd control and policing; council asked staff to coordinate final siting with the police chief. For the Carrolls' specific requests at the Eagle Sports Complex, council members directed staff to review signage, gate locking and plantings and to report back with options.
The council made no immediate ordinance change; staff said they would review the city's existing noise ordinance and consult the city attorney on whether stricter, enforceable language for park tournaments is practical.
