The Rock noise, Franklin neighbors' complaints prompt 'emergency meeting'

FRANKLIN, Wis. - Franklin's mayor and The Rock Sports Complex's owner will meet Friday, Sept. 22 over noise complaints. The issue is years in the making.

It's one thing if you're at the game. The atmosphere is everything, but in your front yard a half-mile away, that's a different story.

"We have to come to a resolution," said Mayor John Nelson.

Nelson and Alderman Jason Craig will meet with The Rock management Friday at the facility after neighbors in Franklin and nearby Greendale said they've had enough.

"They feel like they've been ignored for almost like, a decade now," said Craig.

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The problem may stem from inconsistencies in Franklin's ordinances. The city's zoning code establishes decibel limits by zone at no higher than 65 decibels, but more than a decade ago, The Rock was zoned in a Planned Development District or PDD, which Nelson and Craig said set the decibel limit at 79 even though the city's noise ordinance says no one shall make or cause a sound between 70 and 79 decibels without a permit.

"What normally would be coded as a park, amusement, residential, they have a much lower threshold than what he has," said Craig.

Still, Mayor Nelson said he's confident both sides will find common ground on short-term and long-term solutions.

"This entertainment district is only building," said Nelson. "It's only growing by events. We want to make sure that these events are going to be governed, managed well, and one of the things is managing sound."

Those solutions could include just turning the volume down or physically turning speakers toward the field instead of out.

While the mayor termed it an "emergency meeting," it is not open to the public. The mayor said he's hoping to bring solutions back into a public forum.