Swap Meet noise injunction modified again

Siding with neighbors who complain about noise from weekly concerts at the Midway Swap Meet, Flathead County District Court Judge Stewart Stadler modified a preliminary injunction aimed at resolving the issue for a second time last week.

Stadler had granted a preliminary injunction in June 2011 halting amplified music at the former Midway Drive-in Theater site on Highway 40 after 5 p.m.

The order came at the request of Glacier Peaks RV Park, Helen McLouth and Deborah McLouth, who sued the Swap Meet on June 15, 2011. The plaintiffs filed three counts of private nuisance, claiming noise from amplified music was “offensive to the senses.”

In an effort to convince Stadler they were not a nuisance to their neighbors, Swap Meet personnel conducted sound tests on April 26 using a decibel meter.

Stadler issued a modified preliminary injunction on June 25, allowing the Swap Meet to play music amplified to the same levels as during the April sound test on Fridays from 5 to 11 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. only during July.

But the neighbors’ complaints continued during a July 26 hearing. Helen McLouth, 74, a managing member of Glacier Peaks and a permanent resident at the RV park since 1994, testified that the music is still too loud. She said the loss of sleep and stress from the situation affect her health. She said she’s lost 15 pounds since January as a direct result of the problem. She also said tenants at the RV Park continue to tell her they will leave if the issue isn’t resolved.

Everyone who was present for the sound test and testified on behalf of the plaintiffs claimed the music volume exceeds Stadler’s order. Plaintiffs also argued that a new poster for the Swap Meet promotes the summer concert series but provides no information about vendors.

“This is a concert venue, not a swap meet,” the plaintiff’s attorney, Caleb Simpson, said.

Representatives from the Swap Meet argued that they have been following the injunction’s requirements to the letter, never turning the amplification past the 30 mark and using a decibel meter during concerts.

Stadler chose to side, if tentatively, with the plaintiffs. He amended the preliminary injunction for a second time, replacing the decibel requirement with more subjective language.

“Music should be played at a level that would not disturb people in the park,” he said.

Stadler also amended the times in which the Swap Meet is allowed to use amplification, ordering that it end by 10 p.m.