Angelstone Tournaments wants to work with neighbours to keep things quiet in the community.
Angelstone Tournaments president Keeane White made that pledge to Erin councillors on Sept. 17 as he requested a noise exemption for nighttime Angelstone events.
White said he was previously called to meet with CAO Kathryn Ironmonger and town planner Sally Stull.
“It was brought to our attention that the noise caused from the tournament was causing some grief,” said White. “It was something we were not fully aware of.”
White said he was a bit upset as he heard about the noise complaints.
“Only one person in the community has come to talk to me personally about it.”
That person was Robert Leslie, who was at the council meeting that night.
White said when the issue was brought to his attention, work began to address it.
“We made it immediately clear that we don’t want to be a nuisance in the community. If we are, then we want to fix it,” White said, adding the idea is to put on community events people can look forward to and enjoy.
“We pride ourselves on being the most affordable family entertainment in town,” he said, pointing to the free family admission. “And we have a really cool program that most people don’t know about – Commitment to Educate.”
Every year, Angelstone provides a $7,500 scholarship to a young person in the local community. The scholarship allows them to come out on Saturdays and meet the riders.
White noted that year-round he employs 17 people full-time and during the summer he employs 66 people.
“Those are direct employees of Angelstone, which are local jobs contributing to the community,” he said. He noted that during events, 40 per cent of the competitors stay at local hotels and eat at local restaurants.
“We haven’t yet conducted an economic study,” White said, but he noted studies across the country indicate similar operations are bringing in tens of millions of dollars to local communities.
“We’re trying to build something special and put on really great events,” he said.
White explained that on “Super Saturdays” Angelstone hosts a featured Grand Prix with riders from across North America coming to compete.
Following that, there is a live band and entertainment.
“It has been brought to our attention that the noise is causing an issue,” he said.
“Normally, on Thursdays the venue operated until around midnight and on Saturdays until around 1pm. We’ve taken Thursday off the table and will shut down and be quiet by 11pm. We are asking for a one hour exemption on the Saturday night. We’re asking for midnight.”
White explained the band usually wraps up around 11pm to 11:15pm.
“We want to have time for everyone to get a taxi and a safe ride home,” he said. “If we cut it off right at 11pm, people might be inclined to drive.”
White encourages people to come “see what we are all about.” He said plans for 2014 will see a cutback of the events to address concerns.
“One of our problems as a business is that we grew very quickly and I think some neighbours were taken off guard.”
This year, Angelstone hosted 10 events.
“We have interim plans to cut that to 50% next year to try to make everyone happy and comfortable.” In that scenario, White said he’d be looking to have noise exemptions for five evenings per year.
He said Angelstone is located at 8720 Wellington Road 50 and he invited residents to come by and discuss how the issues are being addressed.
Councillor John Brennan agreed Angelstone holds very nice events. He pointed to the town’s business retention and expansion study on the equine industry.
“This is horse country and this is a nice thing,” said Brennan. “That said, the fact of life is there are neighbours and you have to get along.”
He was however upset that people made their complaints to council first.
“They probably should have talked to you first.”
However, Brennan contended that if it was going to be an ongoing issue or the OPP are being called in “then this isn’t going to fly. The residents have the right to enjoy their property with peace and quiet.”
But he thought five evenings is more reasonable.
White noted he has personal relationships with most of his neighbours, but did not anticipate how far the sound would travel.
“While the neighbours around us have been very supportive, obviously the noise is carrying further.”
One of the problems, he said, “is that we don’t know which neighbours are having problems … so that we can address them.”
White said, “to be fair the police were out a few times,” but not for the past two events.
“We’re taking an absolute stance now that we realize it is an issue … By 11:59pm, you won’t hear a peep.”
