The City of Montreal says it will move to protect live music venues by amending a noise regulation which led to a Quebec Court of Appeal decision temporarily closing concert venue La Tulipe.
Earlier this week (September 23), the long-running venue in the city's Plateau-Mont-Royal neighbourhood was ordered to prevent noise from reaching neighbouring properties, indoors or out. The following day (September 24), La Tulipe announced the temporary cessation of live performances at the venue.
"The judgment surprised us all, and we have to act immediately because all music venues are threatened," Luc Rabouin, Plateau-Mont-Royal borough mayor and head of the city's executive committee, said at a news conference Wednesday [via CBC News].
Rabouin explained that the borough council will hold a meeting Thursday (September 26) to modify the specific section of the neighbourhood's noise regulation cited by the Quebec Court of Appeal decision. Said regulation, Section 9, calls for the prohibition of noise from amplified sound equipment reaching neighbouring properties.
"We will exclude concert venues, bars, restaurants and cultural centres from the application of Section 9, which says no audible noise can be heard from a neighbour," Rabouin said [via CBC News].
In May 2023, the Quebec Superior Court ruled that La Tulipe be subject to soundproofing work to reduce noise, citing Section 8 of the regulation. Section 8 allows for a maximum noise threshold and permits venues to undergo renovations for soundproofing. However, the Quebec Court of Appeal's decision found Section 9 to be more appropriate in their ruling this week.
Claude Larivée, president and co-founder of Tribu, the company that owns La Tulipe, told CBC News Wednesday that the Quebec Court of Appeal decision is a "nightmare" for the venue, expressing concern for its future despite the rule amendment being a step in the right direction.
"The judgment forbids us from having amplified sound in a designated heritage space which can only be used as a performance hall," he said. "We are owners of walls whose sole purpose is concerts and we can't have concerts."