A CLOSER LOOK
/BAD BUSKER BLUES AT NEW BUTE-ROBSON PLAZA
Residents calling for enforcement and signage
by John Streit
(click images to enlarge)
On a recent rain-free evening at the new Bute-Robson Plaza in the West End, a man with an acoustic guitar and amplifier is playing Latin American folk songs, hoping his soothing music sparks pedestrians to open their wallets and donate a couple of dollars. The volume of his amp is set at a level that boosts his skilled playing within earshot, but not enough to disturb residents, businesses and hotel guests in the neighbourhood.
BUSKER WITH AMP AT ROBSON-BUTE PLAZA (EWAN STREIT PHOTO)
No complaints about this busker.
But on other nights at the plaza, residents describe a very different situation.
Pam Zytaruk is a resident on the fifth floor of Haro Park Centre, a campus of senior care providing independent housing, assisted living and complex care under one roof on the southern edge of the Bute-Robson Plaza. She recalls an incident where a man was playing over-amplified guitar, and many residents were very distressed. She eventually called the Vancouver Police non-emergency line. After describing the scene, the operator replied: "Well, they have to make a living."
Zytaruk claims they basically blew her off, without even offering a reference number. She says the problem grew worse and nearby residents were coming out to confront the busker. “One guy was trying to tell the busker that he had a baby who was being kept awake,” she said. Around midnight, Pam again called the VPD non-emergency number, got the same operator, and claims to have received the same “off-putting response.” Zytaruk said the busker eventually stopped after Haro Park residents began shouting out from their balconies. She’s not sure if police responded that night. But a week later, Zytaruk said he was back. “He must have been given a warning because the volume was somewhat lower and he quit at 10 p.m."
According to the City of Vancouver, it encourages a wide variety of street entertainment and “provides permits according to performance type and content on a case-by-case basis.” You can buy either a four-month permit for $53.59 plus tax, or a one-year permit for $159.03 plus tax. Most parts of Vancouver, including Robson-Bute Plaza, require a permit. The seven locations which don’t require a permit include Science World, Library Square and Terry Fox Plaza. Interestingly, you are not allowed to busk within ten metres of the Gastown Steam Clock.
Applying for a busking permit is easy, you just need to:
Be at least 13 years old (If you are 13 to 15 years old, your permit will be issued in your parent's name.)
Have valid photo ID
Performers aged 13- to 15-years must be accompanied by a parent at all times during performances.
The City advises buskers that it “understand[s] the adrenaline generated when performing for an audience. However, take care not to irritate neighbouring businesses or residents.”
Once you have a permit in hand, City rules state:
Up to two performances are allowed on a street block face, except on Robson Street west of Burrard Street, where up to four performances are allowed on each block face
The maximum performance time is 60 minutes at any one location. After 60 minutes, you must move to a different location at least one full block away. Portrait artists can be at one location for up to two hours
On city streets, performances may take place between 10 a.m. and 10 p.m., seven days a week
Dermot Foley is a former Vancouver Park Board commissioner and has lived at the same place near Bute and Haro for 30 years. Like most people you speak with here, he loves living in the West End. “You know, it's a relatively quiet neighbourhood, and a lot of people think it's loud, but it really depends on whether you're on a main street or not,” Foley said.
Dermot Foley.
He feels that quiet is often being shattered at Bute-Robson Plaza. “I don't mind someone busking and singing and you know that's not a problem. It's when they use an amplifier. And we've had a couple of situations here over the last few years where there's a plug in the wall near the plaza that people can plug into. And we had one guy without a permit show up at about 6 p.m. and play just noodling electric guitar till 11:30 p.m. or midnight. Wow. You couldn't even really hear your own TV,” he said.
Foley said he tried speaking with the City of Vancouver. “If it’s before 7 p.m. you phone 311. And then if it's after 7 p.m. you can phone the police non-emergency line, and let them know what's going on. We did that a few times. And I don't know if they ever talked to him or not, because, you know, you never hear back, right?” he explained.
Foley believes a bylaw officer is sent to speak with the busker and if they’re not successful, the file is passed onto the VPD. He believes new signage and more permit enforcement is needed. “There's still work to be done at Bute-Robson Plaza. Jim Deva Plaza [on Davie and Bute] has a ‘no amplified music without permit’ sign. There are events that will go on at this plaza and there'll be amplified music, but it's with a permit.”
As far as noise and amplification levels, the City of Vancouver has a set of rules for that too, with busker sound levels only intended for an audience within nine metres or 30 feet, and no louder than 70 decibels (considered a moderate noise level comparable to a washing machine or dishwasher). Also:
Only battery-powered amplification is allowed
Amplification can only be used for instruments which require amplification to be heard. (For example, an acoustic guitar does not require amplification to be heard so amplification will not be granted for this instrument.) You will be asked to describe the type of instrument or accessory to be amplified at the time you apply for your permit
Amplification is only valid for the instrument identified on the permit
Voice amplification is NOT authorized
If neighbouring businesses or residents complain about your amplification level, you must lower the sound volume. You may have to move to a different location so you don’t generate a complaint
Foley believes most of the Bute-Robson Plaza buskers he’s heard do not abide by any of these rules. “Playing hours and hours of loud amplified music can be a bit much. You know, I like music. I mean, that’s one of the things I find annoying about people amplifying is that I'd have to turn mine up to be louder than theirs, and then that would just bug my neighbours,” he said.
JUDY GRAVES (CITY OF VANCOUVER PHOTO)
Judy Graves had a 33-year career with the City of Vancouver working to end homelessness and says in many situations, she enjoys buskers. “They can be a pleasant addition to the soundscape of the city. But they are mostly enjoyable when you are walking past them, like at a Skytrain entrance, in various tunnels, and when the amplification is low. Buskers become problematic when their amplification makes it impossible to have a comfortable conversation, when they cease to be background ambiance and instead become a dominant performance,” she said.
Graves says the situation at Bute-Robson Plaza has her concerned. “Concerned that the City has spent $10 million for a plaza where noise from buskers may make it impossible to visit and may become torturous to the elderly and disabled living in the Haro Park Centre.”
She adds the streetscape and open, inviting plaza may be deceptive to new buskers in the neighbourhood. “While Robson Street is zoned commercial, in fact many people live above the shops, and most people, and all buskers seem unaware of this. Performance level amplification rattles the windows above ground level and can make it impossible for people to listen to their own music, their own TVs, for hours at a time. During the summer, when windows need to be open, the repetitive playing of buskers can drive the residents to rage. When they play at corners, their noise carries up the residential side streets. This has been a recurrent problem year after year on Robson, Denman, at Jim Deva Plaza, and along the beaches,” Graves tells The West End Journal. “At times, the amplification at Jim Deva Plaza has made it impossible for me to communicate with a hairdresser whose business faced the Plaza, and make conversation with friends when we were on nearby patios, or in the restaurants, so strained we could not relax,” she explained.
Graves laments the lack of law enforcement response from the City after years of complaints. “If the City cannot consistently enforce the by-laws regarding decibel level, it may be time for us to insist that the use of amplification by buskers be outlawed.”
As far as enforcement, a City spokesperson tells the The West End Journal, “when a complaint related to busking is received, City inspectors may conduct a site visit during the time range mentioned in the complaint. If the street performer is present, inspectors will take an education-based approach, including asking the performer if they have a Street Entertainment Permit, informing them how to obtain a permit, and advising them of the bylaw regulations, including requirements for noise levels, use of amplification, and time limits. If there is ongoing non-compliance by a street performance, inspectors have the authority to use additional enforcement tools, such as impoundment and ticketing.”
That includes revoking a busking permit after two excessive sound warnings and prohibiting the further use of any instruments emitting excessive sound.
RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS IN CLOSE PROXIMITY TO the PLAZA (EWAN STREIT PHOTO)
At Bute-Robson Plaza, the City spokesperson says “historically, staff have received complaints about busking at the Bute-Robson Plaza and inspectors have attended the site and provided education to those people who may be in violation of the bylaw.”
The West End Journal asked the City about the possibility of adding signage which would explain busking rules at the plaza.
“Not at this time. While certain locations in the City are more popular than others for street performers, a Street Entertainment Permit allows for performances anywhere on City property, as long as permit terms are being adhered to.”
