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Noise

EntertainmentNightclubsNoise

Opposition to All-Night Parties

by YQNA
Enthusiastic crowd at Sugar Beach celebration. Photo: Waterfront Toronto

Efforts are underway at City Hall to expand Toronto’s nightlife until six o’clock in the morning. We have nightclubs downtown that let out at 3:30 a.m., but the vision of the City’s Night Ambassador, Councillor Michael Thompson of Scarborough, is to boost the economy further in areas of music, fashion, film, literature, visual and performance arts.

YQNA was invited to a Nighttime Economy consultation hosted by several City departments that deal with culture, tourism, zoning, bylaws and safety. A dozen other neighbourhood associations participated, with only one from the suburbs. We learned that changes in zoning and licensing for establishments will be needed to create all-night entertainment “…while balancing the need to address potential community nuisance and public safety issues,” said City staff.

No research or economic projections were offered, nor suggestions for how so many cultural sectors can work through the night — and do they even want to? Nightclubs seemed to be the driving force in this night vision, and they are strongly supported by Toronto Music Advisory Committee (TMAC). That caught YQNA’s attention, because the Waterfront already offers a vast choice of entertainment — at Harbourfront Centre, Scotiabank Arena, Rogers Centre, Second City, Fleck Theatre, Powerplant Theatre, tour boats, outdoor arenas, festivals and events in parks. It’s enjoyable, safe and ends around midnight. It is also an economic engine for Toronto.

Big nightclubs had their time on Queens Quay. The Bamboo Club and The Guvernment both created many problems in this densely populated area. The forces in charge of noise control and safety at nightclubs can barely manage the job now, so opening the doors all night would probably make it worse.

We enjoy living and working in this vibrant recreational place by the lake. It can also be loud and challenging, so the prospect of adding entertainment throughout the night is just not acceptable. YQNA let City Councillor Ausma Malik know our decision in preparation for the Nighttime Economy proposal going before Council this year.

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Island AirportNoisePollution

That Flyby Noise

by YQNA
Noise exposure limits — the NEF — are drawn by Transport Canada with the aim of protecting citizens from excessive noise. The red contours on this map are from 1990, and the blue lines from 2008. The contours continued to vary slightly over the years, but problems persist.

The Waterfront is an attractive and wonderful place to live and visit. On the minus side it has frequent noise pollution, mainly due to planes taking off from the Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, commonly known as the Island Airport. Landings are less loud, but departing planes that fly low past the condo towers, parks and Harbourfront Centre have a ruinous effect on the area, which functions as cottage country for much of Toronto.

As vacation travel has revved up at this airport after COVID, so have festivals and events attracting millions of visitors to the Waterfront and the Islands. They are next to the flightpath, and many locations suffer from debilitating noise, which might be much louder than federal regulations allow. But first the problem must be identified, and that process is ongoing in meetings that include YQNA’s expert Hal Beck. It should be simple to confirm, since noise can be measured by high-end equipment or even inexpensive phone apps. But Transport Canada in Ottawa has a 90-page book of regulations on the subject that baffle even its own staff. They only accept measurements from acoustical engineers. Their aim is to keep excessive noise inside a NEF (noise exposure forecast) contour around an airport and away from residents.

The Island Airport NEF contours were drawn in 1978, neatly avoiding all development lands. At that time the Waterfront was industrial with hardly any commercial air traffic or large aircraft. Jump to today, when the Waterfront is densely populated as part of the largest urban development in North America, and industrial uses have been replaced by high-rises and high-tech companies. This new world needs a new NEF contour that protects the Waterfront from noise.

Noise is not the only problem at this airport. It still operates with heavy financial losses, although it must be self-sustaining as part of Ports Toronto’s right to exist. To keep it going, the Feds funnel our tax dollars to the airport in various ways. It is promoted as essential for Toronto, but that is not the case since the UP Express Train to Pearson Airport opened in 2015.

Even if information and complaints from residents carry little weight in this noise debate, you can satisfy yourself by measuring sound on a phone app. When a plane approaches, check out whether it tops 70 decibels. Any noise exceeding 70 dB is considered disturbing, and above 85 dB can cause harm over time. Then you will have the answers directly from the aircraft engines to your ears. Waiting for the federal bureaucratic system to sort it out could take a long time. You can also lodge a noise complaint with the Island Airport.

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Noise

YQNA Court Victory Against Cabana Pool Bar

by YQNA
A packed dance party at the Cabana Pool Bar by the Eastern Gap. (Screen capture from the Bar’s video)

By Ed Hore

YQNA recently won a legal victory against the Cabana Pool Bar in the Ontario Divisional Court. The effect is that the outdoor nightclub won’t be authorized to make more amplified noise than it’s already making.

The nightclub owners already had a liquor licence that allowed thousands of people outside at Cabana Pool Bar, and to have amplified music until 11 pm on weekends. They applied for a new licence that they hoped would allow them to have a lot more people and make more noise for longer hours.

The Toronto Islanders, City Council and YQNA objected. I represented YQNA pro bono.

Ed Hore is a keen outdoorsman who knows both the law and the lake. 

After a 17-day hearing in 2017, the Licence Appeal Tribunal (LAT) granted the nightclub a new licence, but with a condition that prohibited amplified music outside.  It found Islanders had been disturbed by loud music, and that the nightclub’s efforts to control noise had been casual and ineffective. The new licence was worse than the old one from the point of view of the nightclub.

On appeal, the Ontario Divisional Court upheld the Licence Appeal Tribunal in a lengthy decision released on June 14, 2021.

The Court dismissed the City’s cross-appeal which argued that the nightclub owners couldn’t apply for a new liquor licence because they already had one for the same premises through a related corporation. Nothing in the wording of the statute prevented the second licence application, said the Court.

The odd result is that the nightclub’s owners can, it seems, pick and choose which liquor license they like better: they’ll still probably stick with the old one because it allows amplified music outside.

But at least the recent decision prevents the nightclub from getting the licence it wanted. The loud music problem may not get better, but at least won’t get worse.

Both the nightclub and the City need permission to appeal. We don’t know yet if either will try.

Edward Hore is a lawyer, former chair of YQNA and founding chair of Waterfront for All.

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Noise

New Noise By-law for Toronto

by YQNA


City Council adopted a new Noise By-law with amendments at the April 16 and 17 meeting, 2019.

YQNA has been involved with the by-law review since its inception in 2015. Countless hours have been spent in meetings of the Working Group, in deputing at Committees, and in trying to understand the complexities of sound, how it travels and how it is measured. YQNA joined forces with the Toronto Noise Coalition (TNC), which has members from across the City.

The new by-law is quite short. It has some useful definitions, and regulates 8 kinds of noise, from amplified sound to animals to leaf blowers. It has introduced the use of approved noise meters to be used by MLS staff in checking on sound levels using both the dB(A) and dB(C) scales. While the sound level limits are now more reasonable, the measurement depends on Leq, which is a kind of averaging or smoothing, over a ten minute period, which does not work at all for music. Amplified sound is to be measured at a “point of reception” outdoors or indoors, while noise from a motorcycle is to be measured 50 cm from the tailpipe. Other kinds of noise are just prohibited during certain times, generally from 7 pm to 7 am on week nights and before 9 am on weekends and holidays. Government work, which includes work by the TTC, the Province, the Federal Government and the City, is exempt from the by-law.

The current (old) noise by-law begins with a General Prohibition, which states “No person shall make, cause or permit noise or vibration, at any time, which is likely to disturb the quiet, peace, rest, enjoyment, comfort or convenience of the inhabitants of the City.”

This is removed. It is replaced by “No person shall make, cause or permit noise, at any time, that is unreasonable noise and persistent noise”, where the underlined noises are defined terms. This sounds fine until we read the second part, which states that this provision does not apply to any of the 8 kinds of sound which are dealt with elsewhere in the by-law. Vibration is no longer mentioned, and is only captured somewhat by the dB(C) measurements for amplified sound. This means that activities such as construction or leaf blowing can be noisy during the work day.

The members of TNC are understandably disappointed that after so much work their comments, concerns and suggestions seem to have fallen on deaf ears. The loss of the General Prohibition is of particular concern, because this rule has been used successfully in the past to prosecute noisy clubs and tour boats. A small victory has been the lowering of the dB thresholds from the levels staff had started out with in 2016, but the requirement for by-law officers to actually take measurements at your home is unworkable. By the time they can attend, unless the noise source is a regular, predictable event like a Saturday night dance, the party or concert will long be over.

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NightclubsNoiseWaterfront

Rebel Nightclub Decision

by YQNA

Noise travels fast and wide on the Waterfront from the club site. (Photo: Jim Panou)

The Licence Appeal Board last week released its decision in the dispute about a new liquor licence at Rebel nightclub and its outdoor patio Cabana Pool Bar. It’s mostly a win for local residents and the Islanders. I represented YQNA.

The nightclub already has a liquor licence allowing a lot of people and amplified music outside on the patio until 11 pm Thursday through Saturday nights. It sought a new liquor license allowing a lot more people inside and outside (the application was originally for 15,000 people altogether), and longer hours and fewer restrictions on amplified music outdoors. Residents objected mainly to the amplified music and the huge numbers. The nightclub would then totally dominate the harbour and eastern waterfront.

At the 17-day hearing, the nightclub pared back its request for more patrons somewhat. The evidence was mostly about music disturbances on the Island. The upshot was mostly good news: the Tribunal ruled no amplified music on the patio at all (a big change from before), no increase in numbers on the patio, but some increase in the number of patrons inside was allowed.

An article in the Toronto Star (Aug. 26, 2018) is focused on police concerns about safety around the club, which leaves large crowds late at night in an area that is without transit.

Weirdly, the nightclub still has the old licence; it seems it can choose between the one it already has and the new one ordered by the Tribunal, which had no jurisdiction to set aside the old licence. The wording of the statute, the Liquor Licence Act, leaves something to be desired.

The nightclub has appealed to the Divisional Court.

Edward Hore
Former co-chair and solicitor for YQNA

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