Noisy parties
Area high school students soon will be graduating, and some of us can look forward to enduring loud, all-night partying.
We live near Hilo Yacht Club, where some of these celebrations are held, and for four nights over two weekends, extremely loud music is blasted all night long, until dawn. The first time I encountered it I assumed it was a group partying at a nearby park. I called the police to check on it. They said they would. Nothing improved and it lasted all night long.
When it began the next night, I drove around and found the blasting music was playing at the Hilo Yacht Club and that it was a high school graduation party, it would be lasting all night and it would be happening two more nights the following weekend.
I asked the people at the gate about local noise laws; they just shrugged their shoulders. So, I pushed on my car horn to see how they liked having to listen to loud, unwanted noise — they didn’t, and asked me if I wanted them to call the police.
That sounded good to me, so they called over some police officers who were on-site. I was shocked that police officers would actually be on-site and not be doing anything about the super loud music playing all night. I asked the officers about local noise ordinances and, again, just got shoulder-shrugging.
When you drive out near Onekahakaha Beach Park, you see signs along the road saying, “Violation of noise ordinance strictly enforced.”
The Hawaii government “noise reference” manual (updated July 2017) states that if this were at a park or community facility, loudspeakers could not be used after 10 p.m. So why do those on-site police officers make residents in the area listen to super loud music over loudspeakers all night long?! Why aren’t the noise ordinances strictly enforced?
What is one of the final lessons these young people are being taught as they end their high school educations? That laws don’t apply to them? Police will ignore it when they break the law? Being respectful toward neighbors and other community members isn’t important? And that if you want to party loudly all night long, just go ahead and do it!
Mel Holden
Hilo