Madison County considers event venue moratorium after noise complaints about The Ridge
MARSHALL - Madison County is in the midst of some growing pains, as its influx of both short- and long-term dwellers has been a cause for concern for many residents.
One of the concerns raised by residents is the county's event venues, with people citing concerns about noise and light pollution. The county has heard so many complaints that the board will hold a special meeting June 28 to discuss a proposed moratorium on event venues in the county.
In its May meeting, the board heard from residents advocating for the economic impact of the event venue market, as well as other residents arguing that the Madison County they know and loved is changing for the worst.
Noise, light pollution complaints
Multiple residents alleged Marshall's The Ridge, an event venue specializing in weddings that opened in 2016, regularly violated the "neighborly contract" by allowing loud noise as late as 9:45 p.m. and later.
According to Development Services Director Brad Guth, the county and land use attorney John Noor finished a final draft copy of the county's noise ordinance June 15.
Marta Bodenhorst is the owner and operator of The Ridge. She said her lawyer recommended that she not attend the May meeting because it could potentially be harmful for her.
"My understanding is that change is coming into Madison County," Bodenhorst said. "There are venues opening. There are camping sites opening. It has been extremely difficult for us to operate, on a general basis, and the reason being is that people are reluctant to change. Change is coming to Madison County, which is a great thing in my opinion, because it offers opportunities for kids that are able to work and enter into these different industries.
"All of us employ people in Madison, that come from Madison, that are residents of Madison County. We are providing opportunity for growth, as far as new careers. We also pay taxes. It's a great thing for Madison County. So, there are a lot benefits. We bring tourism."
Bodenhorst said she understands the residents' concerns.
"(Madison County) isn't what it used to be, I understand that," she said. "But, the reality is that things are changing, the exact same way that things changed in downtown Asheville. Twenty-five years ago, if you saw three cars in downtown Asheville, that was a lot. There is noise, and equipment, and motorcycles and cars. We would be very naive to think that that's not going to happen in Marshall or in Mars Hill. That's just the way that growth takes place. That's just the nature of being a democratic country. As property owners or business owners, we're not trying to make life impossible for residents there."
Another resident, Jeff Hoaks, appeared before the board to speak specifically about The Ridge.
"I think a venue like that, they're not in the wedding business. They're in the party business," Hoaks said. "Business is booming. Two, three, four times a weekend, we get bombarded by these loud weddings. I guess the bottom line, the point that I wanted to get across is that it seems like a venue like that has moved into this area and wants to do business because of the beauty, and the serenity and the peacefulness, and they ruin it for everybody else while they cash in on it. For seven months, forget about sitting out on the front porch on a Friday night with someone, because that's all you hear is the party."
Jason Angel pleaded with the board for the county to intervene.
"I'm here with my neighbors about The Ridge," Angel said. "It's as bad as they all say. You guys have got to help us. It's crazy. It's nonstop."
Deborah Mills is building an educational retreat center off Upper Thomas Branch Road and lives on an adjoining road.
"The first year I was there, I didn't hear much, but my neighbors told me there was a lot of noise going on," Mills said. "Last year, it was 2:30 (p.m.) and I heard this amplified sound over the mountain that said, 'This is the best party in Asheville, and we're going to party all night long.'
"I sent (Bodenhorst) an email saying, 'How are you able to do this? When we got our zoning, we had no amplified sound.' To me, when I moved here, before I even knew that anything existed or The Ridge existed, all I knew was I wanted to pay attention to my neighbors. You can't move into an area and be unkind to your neighbors. It's got to be stopped. It's just not considerate."
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According to Bodenhorst, she had a noise specialist company come out to the property in May and insists the neighbors' complaints are overblown.
"You can hear the music of course, but just like you would hear someone cutting hay, grass or the like," she said. "The sound just happened to be music, and all neighbors want to hear is the noise of birds, rain and the movement of leaves during a windy night or storm, which I also love. I totally understand their point of view, don't get me wrong.
"Towns and cities grow, and Marshall's growth and opportunity for development has come. It's here and we have to adjust, just like we had to adjust for COVID. It is just the 'new normal.'"
Owners of Hot Springs' Paint Rock Farm also appeared before the board to inform the board have contracted a professional sound team to begin the process of mitigating sound emission on the farm's property.
Mountainside Cabins owners Ken and Amy Kashuba spoke out at the meeting in support of residents, adding that they often are subjected to noise on their Hot Springs property.
"We are in the same boat with the families that have to put up with the Ridge," the owners said in an email to The News Record. "We live out in the country, own a private, quiet cabin rental business and are raising animals on our farmstead, but we have to listen to weddings almost every weekend when it’s our time to relax. We both spoke out at the meeting about having to listen to the festivals, concerts and weddings that Paint Rock Farm holds from spring through fall. Our guests come out to the country to be in the quiet and not sit by their campfires listening to a wedding across the street. Their barn doors are wide open and face our home. We can hear everything from the song list to the people inside so we cannot sit on our porch or even in our home without hearing what they are playing."
Garrison's response
Bodie Evans, 66, is a resident of Thomas Branch Road in Marshall.
"(I urge you to) come up and sit on my porch and see if you can stand it. You can't live on Thomas Branch anymore," Evans said. "One of our commissioners has been up there, and he heard it. He's been up there twice. He heard it. Something's got to be done with her. I've tried talking to her, just like a human being should talk to one another. She tells me one thing, and the next weekend it's the same thing again."
According to Bodenhorst, Commissioner Michael Garrison has visited The Ridge on two separate occasions to encourage the venue management team to keep the noise down on the property.
Garrison spoke during the meeting, drawing an analogy of a Biblical reference to an unruly ox and its owner to Bodenhorst and the event venue.
"God's the final authority on property," Garrison said. "He's the principal owner. He owned it all in the beginning. In the book of Genesis, he says that he gave it to man, and the word that's used is to 'subdue' him. To put it under his feet to use it for his gain. But he also, in giving that ensured that man understood his responsibility of being a good steward. If a man has an ox, and that ox has had a history of goring, horning people, and you know it as the owner of the ox, it's been a bad ox. It's been a dangerous ox. It's inflicted injury in the past."
Garrison even went so far as to say that the Bible calls for the life of the ox and the owner when the ox has "been a bad and dangerous ox."
"If you don't do something about that ox, and that ox goes out and kills some woman, or kills somebody's son, you are liable. Not only are you liable, the Bible says that if you can't pay the cost of that, that the ox, the life of the ox is called in, and the life of the owner. Now, that's a little bit harsh, but the point of it is that if you can't control your ox, we'll take care of it and you."
Bodenhorst said she took issue with Garrison's word choice, and that she felt Garrison should be held accountable for his language.
"I am definitely upset about that, and he should be reprimanded for that. I don't think that should be overlooked," Bodenhorst said.
In an email to The News-Record, Garrison said his analogy should be taken "in context with the greater statement (he) made which were the words of Jesus Christ."
"(Jesus said), 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets,'" said Garrison. "The two New Testament commandments say we should love the Lord and our neighbor so much that we act responsibly and respectfully toward them and thus avoid the consequences of the Old Testament law.
"Some of the current venues have a proven track record of failing to love and respect their neighbors. When confronted about the unacceptable behavior. The response of owners of these venues have been to install gates at the entrance of their driveway and to host large and loud entertainment events after being informed of their prior offenses. All the neighbors and I asks and expect is to follow the simple and powerfully transcending principles of the Bible and Jesus."
According to Garrison, The Ridge is one of several event venues in the county that are generating numerous ongoing complaints.
Other commissioners' responses
Board chair Mark Snelson emphasized that the moratorium is "not about shutting businesses down," but rather about residents' wishes.
"You can bring all the money in here you want to, but it ain't worth a dime on a piece of plywood," he said. "We're not here to stop these things from going on. We're here to try to constrict this noise, because you can't have neighbors (being put out by noise). If you kick a dog that's down so many times and it gets pissed, it's going to bite you. That's to the point where these people are. We're not wanting to run any business off. We're not wanting to shut any business down. But you've got to be able to respect these people in the county.
"I'm just giving you the way that people think. (Their mentality is) 'You're coming in here. You don't live here. You come in here Friday and Saturday night, and you party like hell, and you expect (the neighbors) to do this every weekend. So that has got to stop. Whatever measures it is, it's got to stop. We welcome the business - it's all about tourism here. But it's all about respecting people's property. (This proposed moratorium) is to try to keep these businesses from trying to run people off here that have been here all their lives."
Snelson said the purpose of the proposed moratorium is to ensure that these issues don't resurface again.
Commissioner Matt Wechtel used the analogy of "My right to swing my arm ends at your nose."
"Once I invade someone else's personal space is when it becomes a problem," Wechtel said. "I don't want to completely eliminate everything. I think that there is a way where we can strike a balance, to where everybody can be good and courteous neighbors to one another, which is how it should have went to begin with. What we've got to do, and what we're going to work to do, is try to find that balance where businesses can conduct their business but they can also coexist with their neighbors. That's the goal."
Garrison suggested the possibility of enacting an annual event venue permit.
"If you're a bad neighbor during the course of that year, then guess what, you ain't getting another permit," Garrison said. "That takes the monkey off my back as a commissioner. I'm not telling you what to do with your property. I'm not telling you you can't be here. I'm telling you if you're going to be here, then you're going to be a good neighbor. And if you don't like that, you can pack your crap and leave.
"So, whatever we do or don't do, if this board decides to do a moratorium, the only way I'm going to support it is if it's very, very defined in a timeline. I'm not a six-month moratorium guy. If it takes us six months to figure this out, we've taken too long."
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Madison commissioners consider event venue halt amid noise complaints
