Noise Harassment Not Sporting

(CLICK TO ENLARGE) An employee of the Sports Zone—located on the southeast corner of H and 8th Streets NE and only feet from the source of disturbingly loud amplified speech—gazes at the typical Saturday scene in front of his store. Business was not necessarily brisk during the hour I spent at the corner Saturday. In a Sept. 14 Voice of the Hill story, one property manager said, the noise issue “has been going on for so long that a lot of [tenants] don’t even realize the impact anymore.” Sound levels Saturday mostly ranged from 85-100 decibels—with frequent peaks of more than 105 decibels—at least 12 feet away from the amplifier. (Copyright © 2006. David Klavitter)