Noise Needs to be Addressed

Kudos to Stephen Gray for his op-ed “A Practical Plan to Fix Our Noise Ordinance” in the April 16-22 edition of Coastal Breeze. What first stood out to me was his choice of the word “FIX.” If the powers to be don’t see a problem, there is no need to “fix” it. 

My wife and I have lived on Marco Island for nine years. We have a neighbor who rents their property for 11 months out of the year, with the average rental being one week. Every third or fourth renter is inconsiderate with the amount of noise they generate in the evening. Early on, I did call the non-emergency phone number to inform the police. When they did arrive (30 minutes later), they spoke to the renters and left. No citation. The renters did quiet down for the remainder of the evening, but the noise returned a few nights later. Should I simply continue calling the police when they had failed to rectify the situation? What is the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over again hoping for a different result. 

I wouldn’t think our police are overworked on Marco Island. We certainly do not have the same problems as Miami, Fort Myers, or even Naples. Violent crimes are extremely rare on the island; a testament to the quality of people who call Marco their home. 

Catering to tourists while ignoring the real estate paying residents/property owners is unacceptable! Thankfully, the island is no longer run by real estate owners/agents who had an obvious conflict of interest. Mr. Gray, that was the reason why the 2020 ordinance was “watered down.” The real estate individuals who were on the City Council certainly did not want to upset the tourists (but it was fine upsetting those who live on Marco Island).   

Mr. Gray’s framework for a sensible and viable solution should be addressed by the current City Council and accepted by the Marco Island Police.