OBSERVER Photo by Braden Carmen Town of Arkwright Supervisor Brian McAvoy spoke about a select few unruly residents in the town at a recent meeting.

ARKWRIGHT — A common theme at Board meetings across the region in the past few years is that people just don’t have the common courtesy they once did toward their neighbors. In Arkwright, that has been pushed to an extreme when it comes to a property off Route 83.

The occupants and guests of the residence have allegedly taken things far beyond the line for what many would consider acceptable behavior. The residents have allegedly been observed playing loud music through all hours of the night, including weeknights. Tire marks are visible all along the road, and residents claim to have witnessed fireworks being fired and several physical altercations have allegedly occurred on the property.

A resident living off Route 83 attended a recent Town Board meeting to address the matter. “It’s nothing but trouble,” the resident said.

The State Police have been contacted several times about incidents at the property, but even after several responses, the behavior continues. The Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office has also been contacted about the property, but because the State Police were first to engage, the County Sheriff’s Office is leaving the case to them to resolve in order to avoid duplication of resources.

“At my own home, I have to sleep with earplugs in,” the resident said. “It scares the dogs, it scares the cats. They hide underneath the bed.”

The resident claims to have made 15-20 calls to the authorities about the property, but he claims he was told the police cannot enforce anything because there are no local laws in place regarding a noise ordinance.

Supervisor Brian McAvoy said at the recent meeting that the explanation given is “bul****.”

McAvoy explained, “There is illegal activity going on. Reckless driving is illegal. Underage drinking is illegal. Fireworks are illegal. Shooting guns at night is illegal. Hurting other people in a fist fight … those are illegal activities.”

Regarding a noise ordinance, McAvoy said the Town is prepared to craft a local law, but it must be carefully crafted not to exclude other noises that would be permitted, such as farming equipment or noise generated by wind turbines. The Town of Arkwright is also in the process of drafting a nuisance dog law to apply to residents that fail to keep their dogs under control, resulting in minor offenses that would not warrant criminal prosecution. McAvoy expressed his frustration with the way things have gone in the town lately to necessitate such attention from the Board.

“Arkwright has been in existence for over 200 years, and now we have to create laws because people have lost respect for one another. That’s the sad reality,” McAvoy said.

The Town will look to draft a noise ordinance in the coming months. McAvoy said, “We do what we can to preserve quality of life in the town. We want Arkwright to be a nice place to live. … I think we have to help out a little bit on something like this. We shouldn’t have to, 100% I don’t think we should have to, but I think we do have to.”