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Boquete lacks any local news media and this blog and I are not accepting the job of being “Noticias”. Still when something happens and I find it effects me or those around me I tend to get involved, sometimes as an agent of change, as when we had water wars on Jaramillo, sometimes as an observer. This time the issue surrounds four people I know, in conflict. Two are the operators of Amigos restaurant, Mark and Jennifer, the others are residents, Bert and Bonnie, living on a property about forty meters from Amigos Restaurant. This conflict is about noise and the right to operate a business conflicting with the right to live undisturbed by loud music.
As I posted on BoqueteNing.com I was going to speak to the affected parties and provide a detailed explanation of the dispute. I spoke with Bert and with the lawyer for Amigos, I have also spoken with Mark but at times I find lawyers more objective, less emotional, and I wanted information not emotion. I want to thank Bert for speaking with me against the advice of his lawyer. With these facts you can reach your own opinion, if you so choose.
These are the facts as I understand them followed by my interpretation.
Amigos Restaurant is located in Bajo Boquete in what one might call a transitional area. In the past the building has been a mini-mercado, a bar and a disco. In front of the building is a narrow river, a large bus garage and then the main street. Along the street which it faces is the Hotel Fundadores and some distance away some housing. To it’s sides along that street there are no inhabited residences for some distance. The problem is to it’s rear. About forty meters away is the back of the closest residence, that of Bert and Bonnie.
Bert has confirmed to me that at one time he did consider leasing the building for a business, but lost interested when considering the costs of renovation and the rent. It was a shambles when Mark and Jennifer did lease the building. They invested time and significant resources in renovating a community eyesore an turning it into a bar and restaurant.
While Amigos was being built Bert was there often and lent his table saw to aid construction. According to him, he frequently cautioned Mark, operator of Amigos, about potential noise issues. Bert told me Mark assured him there would be no problems. Before opening Amigos had several pre-opening events, a birthday party for Stone, a Bon Voyage party for Barbie and an October a birthday bash. At one of those parties Bert said to me “I am going to be the guy to close this place down”. He told me his secret weapon was MINSA the Ministry of Health and their noise regulations. Bert also let me know that this was no secret and that he had told Mark if there was noise at his house he would close him down.
Hands playing at Amigos
I spoke to Mark about the noise issue at that time, the band playing was loud. Mark explained he was planning to do noise mitigation including a barrier near the bandstand that would help focus the noise forward into the bar. The band was at back of the open bar area with a gap that opened toward Bert’s house. The music in the tunnel of the bar was loud; so loud I left.
Several times since that pre-opening party I have returned to Amigos when they had live music and an attempt at a barrier, a large rug. The rug was up blocking the path to Bert’s house and the volume down, even in the bar. Unlike other venues like the disco Coca Cola, La Cabana and the transient discos at the fair ground, I was able to have conversations in the Amigos bar. I also know that unlike a local disco, music at Amigos starts early, often at five and ends no later than eleven on weekends not the allowed three in the morning.
I do not live forty meters from the band playing, Bert does, I could leave when I wanted to leave, Bert can not. According to Bert the noise was loud enough to shake his windows and make reading and sleep impossible. He started to complain, he took Mark to his house to hear the noise, he called the police and complained and he called MINSA to complain. The police response was that it was not disturbing the peace. He continued calling the police so often, nights, afternoons, with music, without music that they stopped responding.
The agency under Panamanian law that has jurisdiction of complaints about excessive noise is MINSA, the Ministry of Health. I know people at MINSA I worked with Juan Pablo the MINSA inspector when we had our water issues on Jaramillo. I know Juan Pablo to be honorable and honest. The law governing those complaints is Law 306 of Sept 4, 2002 as amended by executive order Jan 15, 2004. That law makes excessive noise a petty offense and allows MINSA to measure the noise against the ambiant level and determine if it excessive. They need to establish a baseline and if the noise in the living area of the complainant is more than sixty decibles above the baseline it is a violation.
Here is a list of common noises and their decibel levels:
Aircraft at take-off (180)
Fireworks (140)
Snowmobile (120)
Chain saw (110)
Amplified music (110)
Lawn mower (90)
Noisy office (90)
Vacuum cleaner (80)
City traffic (80)
Normal conversation (60)
Refrigerator humming (40)
Whisper (20)
Leaves rustling (10)
Calm breathing (10)
Noise levels of 130 decibels or over will be painful and is very likely to cause immediate hearing damage.
Sixty decibels alone without a baseline is the sound of a normal conversation. Amplified music at the source is almost twice that, the issue however is not decibles in the bar, the source, but in the house of the complainant. Assuming no noise except breathing in the bedroom of a house the law would allow 10 (calm breathing) + 60 (conversation) =70 decibels, less than 80 (city traffic), before an infraction.
MINSA listened to the complaint and met with Mark from Amigos. They told him to find ways to abate the noise, good community relations. Under the law he had forty five days from notice to implement a solution. Despite that legal step in the correct and lawful channels Bert and others produced a petition and took it to the mayor who has no legal authority in this matter. About one week ago the Mayor told Amigos that noise was an issue in the town and that there would be a District Council meeting one week later to discuss the issue; good politics.
At the public meeting the Mayor discussed noise from the Feria which well exceeds legal limits, but because the fair brings big bucks into town and is a cultural sacred cow, the fair can continue unrestricted; this despite a petition with five hundred signatures complaining about Feria noise. He then singled out Amigos and said he would close them down. Five hundred ignored for politics and economics. When an attorney from MINSA who drove from David to speak asked for the floor she was refused the opportunity to speak. What she planned to say to the council was, this is a matter for MINSA and that the Municipo has no legal authority. The council did not take any action, they passed no resolutions, they have no legal authority.
A man who claimed to be both an expert on sound and the lawyer for Bert then told the lawyer for Amigos that they have filed a criminal complaint against Mark. When the lawyer for Amigos asked to see the charges and the documents he was refused access. As of now Mark needs to wait until he is arrested to discover what crime he might have committed to justify criminal proceedings under the health laws.
I understand being upset about noise in my house. Four nights a week Amigos has music and Bert was well within his legal rights to complain to MINSA and demand they do something about it if he is bothered. As enforcers of the law, they gave Amigos forty five days as per statute to reduce the levels. There are still more or less thirty days for Amigos to mitigate the noise. During that time Bert has done an end run on two flanks, he and forty two others have petitioned the Municipo to shut down Amigos and through his lawyer he has filed undisclosed criminal charges against Mark.
If Bert is losing sleep he followed the correct legal procedure with MINSA and should allow the law to take it’s course. He has also filed a criminal charge against Mark who is trying to run a business in Boquete. This use of a criminal complaint in my opinion is wrong. This is a bad precedent to all business owners. Court is the forum of last resort for resolving problems, using criminal law to arrest a person for a non criminal act to solve a civil issue is unforgivable, even if allowed.
Bert, I understand the noise bothers you and others, I have spoken to still others who live close and who have no complaints about the noise.
Heidi Rehm on Boquete NIng
“Until a couple of months ago, we were renting the house right next to Amigos and I think it’s probably the closest house to the restaurant. We never thought that the music was that loud and never had a problem with it. We will sign the petition in support of Mark and Jennifer, fellow restauranteurs, as we want to see Boquete continue to grow with good options for food and entertainment.”
MINSA is your correct legal solution, the drama with the Mayor was un-necessary since he has no legal authority, the criminal charges just wrong. I accept the possibility as so often happens with lawyers and things lost in translation you did not understand what the lawyer did in your name. If this is to be resolved. sit down with Juan Pablo from MINSA and Mark and come to an acceptable solution to all.
Thank you, Lee, for a factual, unbiased reporting of how this situation has developed.
As one of the members founder of the Arbitration for Conflicts Solution at the CAPAC I found Lee’s Report clear and unbiased and will give my humble opinion.
The best way to give a solution to a conflict like this is making both parties to meet together and find a solution instead of going to court. Doing this way will avoid long processes, high court cost and lawyers fees. If they still keep trying to solve this using legal weapons at the end the lawyers will be the only one who will win. Each party should release from personal feelings and emotions and use common sense to solve the problem to make everybody happy. Something in the middle.
By all the things explained here I consider that the best, quick and less expensive solution will be that the owner/administrator of Amigos do some sound mitigation in his place. Built a higher back wall, enclose the place where music is played and use other ways to reduce the noise that goes outside the place. Simple and cheaper. The business will continue open and giving a service to their faithfull customers.
Taking this problem further will only leave lawyers doing something that could be legal but not fair. It also will damage the relationship and create new enemies, bitter persons and with less money because of the legal cost and lawyers fees. Frontal confrontation will never give the best results in the solution of a problem.
I should preface my comment by saying that I was an occupational safety and health director for the Feds (prior to retiring early 6 years ago) . . . Great unbiased article Lee and you are absolutely correct that this organization, MINSA is the best recourse for the parties involved.
This the key paragraph, “Sixty decibels alone without a baseline is the sound of a normal conversation. Amplified music at the source is almost twice that, the issue however is not decibles in the bar, the source, but in the house of the complainant. Assuming no noise except breathing in the bedroom of a house the law would allow 10 (calm breathing) + 60 (conversation) =70 decibels, less then 80 (city traffic), before an infraction.”
Regarding the testing, the person measuring the noise, should know his equipment (certification possibly and/or an industrial hygienist professional). Also, the equipment should be calibrated and documented as such.
In the United States, OSHA mandates noise standards (some are advisory) for industry and workers in both the private and public sector, albeit, some States are allowed to have their own programs, e.g., CAL-OSHA, if they can demonstrate that their regulations meet or exceed federal OSHA standards. Additionally, some industries (companies) are not subject to OSHA, i.e., small business companies with minimal employees affected. There are also industries that have specific OSHA standards, e.g., construction. My point being that I would imagine MINSA has similar regulations that are advisory in nature and/or with exceptions.
Regardless, MINSA seems to be the entity to address these complaints.
This is a small town…things should be worked out in person between the 2 parties. I think both parties should shake hands, put the past behind them, say good bye to their lawyers and put their minds together and see if there is a mutually advantageous solution.
To solve this problem Mark must hire a real lawyer, the ponytail guy in not even an attorney or law student is a Puerto Rican usurping the advocacy in Panamá.
Boquete is divided into zone the urban areas and commercial, the area where is the restaurant is a commercial area and it allow all types of industries, hotels and clubs. The only competent authority to resolve noise problems is the MINSA and the Mayor has no power to ventilate this matter.
If you are sensitive to noise…let’s conscentrate on the “bulla” or the ridiculously loud cacaphony coming from of the feria and other feriados that keep babies up until 5am in the morning. This noise at Amigoes is less than 1 percent of the noise that eminates from these giant noise fests, which diminishes the quality of life in Bajo Boquete (that is for those who try to sleep here).
Hi Lee,
As usual, excellent article, research and thoughts. I’m really beginning to see what it means to live in a “small town”. There are obvious advantages and as much as I love being here, sometimes the “everybody knows everybody, he said, she said” stuff is a little too much. Some of our residents, as well as a few of the contributors to BoqueteGuide and Boqeute.ning, could use a good chill-pill.
Smile, get along, or get along (down the road).
Thank you once again, Lee, for your continued efforts to keep us all informed and for your objectiveness in doing so. It’s a sad day when a situatin like this develops and lawyers become involved. I know none of the parties involved and can only hope a reasonable resolution is reached.
An excellent synopsis, Lee. If obstinance continues, it will likely be to the detriment of both parties. Personally, I’m in favor of more events at the Locals like yesterday’s at Amigo’s. The place was jammed from mid-morning on with a crowd that has money to spend but likes to get home before dark. It had to be one of their biggest grossing days since opening.
Because Amigos is the new one in the neighborhood, they should be resoponsible
and do more for noise mitagation. If one rug doesn´t do it, use as many as is necessary.
Plant trees and bushes to absorbe the sound. Put more acoustical materials within the
edifice. Build a high fence wall.
I live near a night club in David and at times the noise is really loud, and I am planting
trees and shrubs to absorb the noise.
There are solutions. Amigos just hasn´t found sufficient ones.
just a few observations
1) the newcomer, in this case the club Amigos needs to adjust to the situation, do more sound mitigation….”.if you move to the country ,expect farm animals”
2) if it can be resolved by the parties involved without lawyers everybody (except the lawyers ) gain
3) I dont think “we” (I dont even live there (yet), should complain about local customs ,such as loud music at ferias….”we” are guests ……last time I visited,I stated at Hostal Boquete when the partying started….I didnt complain, just moved to a less noisy place…..if they , the locals, play loud music as part of their festivities ,so be it…..if you doont like it , stay away …
By this I do not mean that this Bert person ,whom I do not know, should move…he was there first….the restaurant needs to ‘fit in’…..I`m sure noise mitigation can be done, by hiring sound engineers, not lawyers…
just my 0.02
Having lived in Central Boquete through several visits of the Feria soundstages, I am well familiar with the problem of excessive noise. Yet mostly the simple solution was to go round the house closing our windows: it was not something we did normally, as we enjoyed the air flow, nor was it something we did to exclude the atmospheric music all the time, but when we wanted it to be quieter in our home we did do it and could easily hold normal conversation in the house.
Looking at Lee’s figures, and knowing how the bands used to play, I would doubt that at 5m they are much louder than a chainsaw which is rated, as is amplified music, at 110db. At the extreme, as Lee says, the ambient room noise should be only 10db (which is extremely quiet and probably less than a typical fan) and the regulations allow 60db more noise before it is considered a nuisance.
At first sight, Bert has a point as it appears that Amigo’s is running some 40db louder. But, according to Lee’s article, Bert’s home is some 40m away. The accepted figure, given no noise abatement being implemented is a drop of 6db for each doubling of the distance. Thus, given an estimate of 110db at 5m, this should drop by 6db at 10m, 6db more at 20m, and 6db more at 40m, giving a value of 92db outside Bert’s house.
Now while it is not reasonable to expect Bert to add soundproofing or double glazing to his home, it seems to be reasonable to expect him to close the windows when bothered by noise. This is certainly what we did in Boquete. A typical single pane window (i.e. not double glazed) should reduce sound by about 27db (concrete wall do much better). This should give a value of 65db within his home. Now this may not be what he wants to hear, but given Lee’s excellent analysis is well within the law.
Assuming even minimal sound mitigation from Amigo’s one would expect at least a 5 to 10db drop off. One 5/8” plasterboard will reduce the sound by 28db. With just a 5db drop off from their mitigation, that would still leave Amigo’s within the law even if the music was cranked up to a deafening 120db.
Living adjacent to a commercial district certainly has its challenges: we found that. But Amigo’s is not a new use for the building: it had been operating as a bar / nightclub with music, well before we first came to Boquete three and a half years ago. While Amigo’s certainly should try to act as good neighbors, Bert also needs to adapt and engage in his own sound mitigation: he’ll certainly appreciate the difference when the Feria comes in town.
In practice the above doesn’t work. Earplugs for sound mitigation only attenuate the higher frequencies. Bass is what I have a problem with. I don’t have a dog in this fight, as my problem is with the Feria. I have tried several brands of earplugs and the bass gets through all of them. Also earplugs fall out sometimes while you are sleeping. If I can get my decibel meter working again I will take new measurements. I can tell you with 78dB on my front porch, the noise inside my house made it very hard to sleep at 3AM.
I have trouble believing sound drops 27dB inside a typical Panamanian house.
With the Feria we found that if we closed *all* the windows in the house we got a substantial drop in the volume including the bass. But leave even one window open (even behind a closed door) and the sound seeped in to a surprising amount. Given the strength of wind and rain in Boquete, I would hope the windows are sealed properly, but if they are letting the water through, then they will let the sound through too.
We did stay at Hotel Fundadores when there was an “event” at the old bar and although there was plenty of noise outside, once we were within the room all was reasonably quiet. We also stayed upstairs at the old Amigos just above the bar with an event on and although that was a little loud for our taste, I can’t think we would have had a problem if we had been 35m further away in a different building.
But it’s all a question of balancing the benefits and drawbacks when you live downtown. The incessant drum practising at the school in the weeks before a parade drove us nuts, but it was just another part of living in the town center.
Maybe Bert can make certain his windows are sealed and closed, and maybe Mark can add some extra drywall or plywood to reduce the sound and everyone can live happily ever after…
Holy Cow, this is a Latin Country…they party…and music is part of their culture….I have lived here for 10 years and this is not Little USA… If you can’t sleep go party with them.
I lived around the corner from Los Arcos…before Monolo and they did not close until 2 or 3 am every day….I would get up and watch TV…. The solution for me…Move….
This is a small town….people need a good and safe place to go…That bar has been open for several years. I am sure Mark and Jennifer would insure that the bass, which is the most annoying, and the general volume level would be reduced….I have been known to ask to lower the volume level in several locations…and generally if is recognized… My opinion, high volume covers poor music and poor musicians…
And, if they stop at 11pm as someone on this post states….Hurray… so what is the problem???
Let’s try to get along….!
My very best friend, Nancy Butler resides in Boquete Panama, I just want to commend you on your web-site – it’s put together nicely, I look forward to keeping up with the happenings there.
Thank you.
When you read this excellent report about the problem between “Amigos” and “Bert” I’m almost pretty sure that “Bert” got jealous because he wanted the premises. Since he has seen what Mark and Jennifer made out of this premises I may understand him but “Bert” is in this case not really fair. For sure is that “Amigos” should do everything not to disturb the people they are living around. I personally know an elderly Lady, she talked with me about this noise, but she even told me that it is not that loud as above mentioned.
I hope ther will be a solution because I like “Amigos” very much.
Change the music to someting soft Jazz, romantic, Meditative! I hate going to places where I have to shout to my wife over the table. People go to places like Amigos to compartir. Whats wrong with you guys¿ Is this a batle of egos or what¿ I would like to have a conversation where I can hear what the other person says. Especially if my wife is telling me how much she loves me and that she is enjoying herself . Get educated¡