Chili, N.Y.—For two years, residents near The Father’s House, have been complaining about noise.
The Father’s House is a large church located on Paul Road in Chili.
“It’s not the music because you don’t hear the music, but you hear the beat,” said Dave Lamphrom, who lives nearby.
Not every resident on Paul Road, Archer Road or the surrounding streets hears these sounds or feels the vibrations.
“You can hear some things, but it’s not like you can hear a concert,” said John Bates, a resident who lives across from the church property.
This hasn’t stopped nearly two dozen complaints from trickling into the office of Town Supervisor David Dunning.
Dunning lives in the same area and said his home has also been impacted by the noise.
Dunning said while he does not want to legislate this issue, he submitted an amendment that would limit noise emitted from churches and schools.
“I just want to make sure that the tax paying residents in the Town of Chili don’t have to complain about noise coming from a church, or a school,” explains Dunning.
The issue was on the agenda for a town meeting Wednesday. The public comment session was postponed because of poorly worded language in the legislation that Dunning felt made it too broad.
An assistant to Senior Pastor Pierre du Plessis said he was unavailable for comment Wednesday.The church said it is working with the town on a resolution. The assistant expressed frustration that the noise ordinance had become a news story, though Du Plessis was quoted in a Democrat and Chronicle story published Saturday.
“It’s like telling the Catholic Church to blow their candles out,” said Du Plessis to the Democrat and Chronicle.
Dunning disagrees with the Pastor's assessment.
“I think it’s a very poor analogy. First of all, candles don’t make any noise whatsoever,” said Dunning.
Du Plessis also told the D&C that the efforts to quiet the church infringes on its rights.
Dunning disagreed with that notion as well, but said he would like to work with members of the faith community, schools and other major stakeholders to find a solution that won’t involve passing a new ordinance.
“There should be a simple solution,” said Dunning.
