
                         THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
                 Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 29, 1994                    TAG: 9406290434 
SECTION: LOCAL                     PAGE: B4    EDITION: FINAL  
SOURCE: BY IDA KAY JORDAN, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: 940629                                 LENGTH: PORTSMOUTH

RESIDENTS SAY NIGHTCLUB NOISE PROBLEM GROWING

{LEAD} An ongoing battle over noise between residents of the Collinswood area and Ebony Showcase, a nightclub on Airline Boulevard, has ``escalated to a bigger problem,'' one of the residents told the City Council on Tuesday.

A rash of vandalism to neighborhood vehicles Sunday night involved cars and trucks of those who have filed complaints against the club since it opened in April, Angela Schleeper said.

{REST} ``Do you think this was a random act of violence?'' she asked council. ``We think not.''

In addition to making noise that keeps residents awake until 4 a.m., Schleeper said patrons of the large nightclub in a former bowling alley have begun loitering in the parking area around the club and ``urinating on our fence.''

``Who knows what will happen next?'' the woman asked.

Schleeper said she and her husband and small child have abandoned their house directly behind the club.

``We have a $650 monthly mortgage payment on a home we can't live in,'' she said in a voice tense with emotion. ``I shouldn't have to lose my home over this.''

Mayor Gloria Webb, who has been to the neighborhood after midnight on several occasions to check the complaints, agreed with Schleeper.

``The club owners are trying to turn this into a racial issue, but it's not'' Webb said. ``I've been out there and confirmed that I could not live with that noise.''

Although owned by whites, the club caters primarily to blacks. It is open until 4 a.m. five days a week.

In response to a question from the mayor about what would happen if the city ``went out and padlocked the place,'' City Attorney Stuart Katz replied, ``They'd take us to court.''

However, Katz agreed with Councilman Cameron Pitts that getting a court injunction to close the club is ``a possibility.''

``We're not getting any help at all from our juidicial system,'' Webb said. ``I think it is up to this council to find a solution.''

The nightclub owners have appealed 16 District Court convictions and a $250 fine on each to the Circuit Court.

Two weeks ago, the council amended the city noise ordinance to include measurable decibel levels, but city police have no meters to measure the levels, the mayor noted, so no arrests have been made under the new codes. by CNB