Washington DC Headlines
Council Takes Dive on Commercial Area Noise Protection
A carefully crafted compromise adopted by the Council on May 6 to extend noise protections to commercial areas was undone at the June second reading, despite allegations by some councilmembers of unscrupulous conduct by union advocates. In May, the Council adopted an amendment which set forth specific noise standards for residential and commercial areas. However, any applicability of restrictions to noise made in commercial areas was removed at the June 3 final reading. During the discussion, Chairman Gray and Councilmember Barry supported the amendment, but also chastised union advocates for unfairly targeting Councilmembers Kwame Brown and Yvette Alexander, both long-standing supporters of labor, with radio ads, fliers, and picketing prior to the June 3 final vote.
