noise also comes from party boats, The Guvernment, water taxis.
Toronto Star-Sounds of silence come from Docks
Sounds of silence come from Docks
Club's licence is back pending appeal
Seagulls drown out patio noise on island
Jul. 31, 2006. 05:34 AM
TAMARA CHERRY
STAFF REPORTER
The neon-lit palm trees draping over the Docks patio are so loud, you can almost hear them.
At 1:30 a.m. Sunday, the Cherry St. hotspot is flooded with people inside and out. But the rhythm of the music is felt only through the pulsating lights seen through the closed windows and doors.
Docks regular Clint Mack stands on the patio, drink in hand.
"It's a nightclub inside," he says. "But you can't hear anything out here."
Business doesn't seem to have dropped since last week, when the Docks had its liquor licence temporarily revoked over noise complaints and then reinstated, with restrictions, pending an appeal.
For years, Toronto island residents have complained about emotional stress and sleep deprivation due to noise coming from the nightclub. But as this water taxi drifts from the Docks to the Cove — the island spot where taxi driver George McQuinn says residents get the brunt of the so-called noisy storm — the ambient sound of chatter coming from the patio is quickly trumped by seagulls.
After 10 seconds of silence and concentration, a distant bass vibrates through the air. We trace it to the source: About a mile away, The Guvernment nightclub blasts music from its rooftop patio on the harbourfront. Closer to the island, reggae beats belt out from party boat Enterprise 2000.
Party boats like this are a sign of summer, says Cove resident Jimmy Wicks in a ride from the city to the island. And many times, they create just as much, if not more noise than the Docks, which has been plagued by islander complaints for a decade in a battle to turn down the music.
That battle seemingly ended last week when the nightclub had its liquor licence revoked in a precedent-setting decision — the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario has suspended, but never removed, a licence solely because of noise issues. Days later, a judge reinstated the licence pending appeal, saying the venue would suffer "irreparable harm" if it was banned from serving alcohol.
"I can't say that it has never been obnoxious, because it has," Wicks says, pointing to times when the Docks has hosted outdoor concerts. "It's just one of those things you get used to."
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`I hear the Docks on Algonquin ... sometimes it drives me nuts'
Sarah Willinsky, island resident
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Algonquin island resident Sarah Willinsky hears things differently.
"I hear the Docks on Algonquin and it wakes me up," she says. "Sometimes I don't mind it, sometimes it drives me nuts. It depends what mood I'm in."
McQuinn thought the Docks issue was taken care of a couple years ago when he began taxiing an employee to the island each weekend to test sound levels. The trips tapered off after a while but began again with last week's controversy, McQuinn says.
The "sound guy" will likely spend weekends for the next while out on the island, McQuinn says. From 11 p.m. to 3 a.m., he walks around the island, walkie-talking information back to the nightclub on what he hears.
The Docks isn't the only thing McQuinn hears the islanders talking about.
There's the port authority, the airport, the airport bridge, the party boats, the dirty harbour, he says.
It's 2 a.m. As the water taxi roams into the island lagoon, the sound of the motor is the only noise.
McQuinn shuts off the engine; a lone cricket takes over.
The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario has until January to appeal the judge's decision to reinstate the Docks' liquor licence.
"If I was the owner of the Docks and I had a liquor licence revoked, I would throw an all-ages party and be f-----g loud," Wicks says.
At 2:30 a.m., we float between the island and a bustling city in serene silence. Seconds later, Brooks and Dunn's "Hard Workin' Man" blasts through the air. The source? None other than McQuinn's own little party boat.