ONLY ON ABC-7: Loud music at Las Cruces bar frustrates neighbors

How loud is too loud? T hat’s what the city of Las Cruces is trying to figure out after residents say they’re kept up at night because of blaring music from a nearby sports bar.

The Game II sports bar and grill opened its doors in September.

It’s on Northrise and Sonoma Ranch, near the US 70 in east Las Cruces. About 1,500 feet from the business is a residential neighborhood.

Residents who live in that neighborhood say on the weekends, the music is way too loud.

“The point it’s at right now is nothing’s happening,” Anthony Samarzia, who represents the Sonoma Ranch neighborhood, said. “I mean this Friday and Saturday night the music will be blaring and all I want to do is just live with a little quiet.”

It turns out, the city of Las Cruces doesn’t have a noise ordinance for commercial businesses. Instead they deal with complaints the same way they would with a noisy house party.

“If we were called out to a private house and they were playing music but it’s too loud we’ll go and talk to that homeowner, in this case we’re talking to the business,” Las Cruces Police Spokesman Dan Trujillo said.

Currently, city ordinance says if officers get a complaint, they can stand 30 feet from the business and if they hear music, they have a right to tell the owner to turn it down.

{C}

“We are going to have to work to get a commercial noise ordinance in place as well as put some real numbers and language in there that gives us something tangible to work with, not just someone’s opinion,” Las Cruces Mayor Ken Miyagishima said.

Owner of The Game II Marci Dickerson says her businesses shouldn’t be treated like a house party. But she is also doing everything she can to lessen the noise.

“We currently have bids out for putting some sound dampening materials on the fencing, we are looking at putting a cover on the patio and acoustic sound damping materials on that,” Dickerson said.

Mayor Miyagishima says he’s planning a work session sometime in April that will address this issue.