Neighbors want local Third Ward club to turn the volume down

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Some people in one Third Ward community say they're sick of the noise coming from a nearby club and they're demanding the club tone it down.

The club in question is Epic 22, located at Blodgett and Ennis.

"I want the noise to stop, the noise from the club, the music coming out of the building, the music coming from the idle cars," Cassandra Hill said.

Cassandra Hill and William Grogan live right across the fence from Epic 22.

"Anywhere in our house: in the bedroom, in the kitchen, even out on the front porch you can hear that music," Grogan said. "And you can also hear the profanity and just how wild the party is."

Epic 22 opened behind their home in 2013, and they say the noise hasn't let up since. They tell Eyewitness News at times it's so bad they have to go to a hotel and they've also lost count of how many times police have been called.

"So when they eventually get there, and I assume they're arriving because the noise may go down for a bit, but once they leave it oftentimes just goes right back to where it was," Hill added.

City records show nearly 40 calls for service to the club since October 2015. All but four of those were for loud noise complaints. Grogan and Hill say they've tried to work with the owners, and even had an attorney threaten a lawsuit.

"If the police won't come out and do something, I see why he would be so arrogant and not willing to obey the law if the law is not going to be enforced by the city or the police," Grogan said.

"The police have been out. The police have been very nice. They're not happy with the police's response because the police have found nothing. What they want is for Epic to go away," attorney Waverly Nolley argued.

Waverly Nolley is the attorney for Epic 22. He says the owners have done everything they could to be a good neighbor.

"My client has insulated walls. We've put barriers up to re-direct the sound. There's certainly not a decibel monitor they can look to see if there's some decibel we're beyond. It's simply something that's beyond their taste," Nolley added.

"I understand economic development," Hill said. "I believe and welcome economic development into the community. But not that which infringes on the rights of the residents and our own quiet enjoyment of our property."

This all comes down to whether the noise rises to the level of violating the city's noise ordinance, which was updated in 2012. According to the club's attorney, that hasn't happened. But the neighbors say turning down just a bit would go a long way to the club being accepted as the good neighbor it claims it's trying to be.