Some University of Wisconsin students are petitioning against a city ordinance, in efforts to “save the music” at the annual Mifflin Street Block Party.
The petition opposes Madison Police Department enforcement at the block party of a city ordinance stating it is unlawful for any person to produce excessively loud noise because it “leads to an unreasonable disturbance.”
MPD has cited bands at the block party in recent years for violating the ordinance, with tickets costing up to $172 for music that can be heard three houses away from the performance location.
Tom Wangard, UW junior and Mifflin Street resident, said he has already obtained 40 signatures from residents throughout the 400 and 500 blocks of Mifflin Street and Broom and Bassett streets after casually walking through the neighborhood Sunday evening.
“Our goal with this petition is to show that there is neighborhood support for these bands,” Wangard said. “We are showing that neighbors are not complaining, and we are trying to say [to MPD] that ‘you are stepping out of bounds here with these tickets and that they are uncalled for.'”
City Council President Mike Verveer, District 4, said MPD has not had issues with noise disturbances since the Mifflin Street Block Party’s debut in 1969. But within the last couple of years, police have become stricter in enforcement of city laws relative to house parties and “noise,” he added.
“The police crackdown has had a chilling effect on this event, almost to the point where there is only alcohol left,” Verveer said. “No one is really being disturbed by the music playing during the day.”
Verveer added he will host a yearly neighborhood meeting next Tuesday for police and residents to lay the ground rules for the May 3 event.
MPD Captain Mary Schauf said ordinance violation problems are the result of the absence of a street use permit, and that these permits would lead to a more organized event — specifically with regard to bands and music.
“We get what I would say is a battle of the bands. When you get three, four or five bands on the block going, it gets really obnoxiously loud, and it does not just stay on that block,” Schauf said. “If this party is so important to people, why doesn’t someone get a permit and organize it?”
Wangard said when he attempted to obtain a street use permit to create a more organized event early last fall, Street Use Staff committee members “laughed in his face.” His intention was to create a “beer tent” to reduce underage drinking and overconsumption of alcohol by providing a single location with licensed alcohol vendors, Wangard added.
“We are asking the police to use their discretion because a police officer does not need to come up to a band and give them a ticket,” Wangard said. “You can hear [Camp Randall] from all the way across the campus, and you do not see the police giving UW a ticket. This is a student thing, and I feel like that is why we are being targeted.”
Wangard said he and other UW students will present the petition to Schauf and a representative from Mayor Dave Cieslewicz’s office Wednesday evening in attempts to convince MPD to adopt a more lenient enforcement of the music ordinance.
“We are attempting to save the music by making [Mifflin Street] an environment that is conducive to music and bands playing,” Wangard said. “We feel that we have earned that right by being on the same level as other well-known Madison events.”
