[appleiphoneees]

(Gary Hovland) Image Source:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/22/ny...iuHC7ux7uGumEQ

__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ ___________


Noise complaint against Bayville family dropped

BY SUZANNE LABARRE
suzanne.labarre@newsday.com
June 20, 2007

Cheers erupted in a packed courtroom in Bayville [L.I.] Wednesday night after a judge dismissed a case against a couple who faced jail time because their children allegedly played too loudly around their backyard pool.

William and Rachel Poczatek, of Bayville, were accused of violating a village noise code after irate neighbors complained that their daughters, ages 5 and 11, made too much noise frolicking in their backyard.

Judge John O. Kennedy threw out the case after Village Prosecutor James Reilly joined with the couple's attorney, Andrew J. Campanelli, of Mineola, who asked that the charge be dismissed.

"I think the village did the right thing," said William, 43. Rachel, also 43, added, "It shouldn't have come to this point."

Neighbor Mark Kostakis, 40, who had complained about the girls, said Wednesday night, "The wrong ordinance was written. ... Does this give them the right to do whatever they want? You'll have to ask them."

The couple's attorney has not ruled out further legal action. Kostakis had videotaped the girls playing in the backyard and the couple wants the tapes destroyed.

Kostakis said earlier this week he had complained to the family and the village for nearly three years and started recording the din last month after village officials instructed him to document his complaints, he said.

"I don't want it to escalate. I want peace and quiet," Kostakis said. His wife, Angie, 44, said they had bought the camera to document the case. "It's not about the children. It's about the parents who have blatant disrespect for the neighbors," she said.

The Poczateks were charged with violating a provision that bars "the shouting and crying of peddlers, hawkers and vendors, which disturbs the peace and quiet of the neighborhood." If convicted, the couple could have been fined $250 or sent to jail for 15 days, or both for each day that the offense continued.

Caroline Bourke, 53, who lives behind the Poczateks, also has complained, but said last night she wasn't surprised the case was thrown out. "I guess these days, there are going to have to be new ordinances," she said.

A friend of the Poczateks, Nicole Waage, 41, of Bayville, supported the dismissal. "I think it was the right decision and the only decision to make. There are kids all over the place in Bayville," she said.

On Tuesday, Mayor Victoria Siegel said she wasn't happy about children not being able to play in their backyard, but maintained that "something had to be happening in order for people to have complained."

But Albert Brunetti, 74, who lives next door to the Poczateks, said he's never had a problem with the children. "The kids are nice kids," he said.

Several neighbors who live behind the Poczateks' Perry Avenue home on Plymouth Road said Tuesday that the children are indeed a nuisance. The children scream at the top of their lungs and go on for hours on end, said Sheila Brown, 48. "I could have 10 friends over that don't make as much noise as those two kids," she said.

On May 7, a village code enforcement officer issued William Poczatek a notice of violation, citing his children's "loud screaming, shouting" as an "unreasonable nuisance to neighbors." Last week, the Poczateks held a party for their 11-year-old daughter and her friends. The following day, they received a summons to appear in court.

Rachel Poczatek said Tuesday her children are well-behaved. "They're not throwing rocks, they're not yelling, they're just playing in their yard," she said.

Copyright 2007 Newsday Inc.

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/lo...tory?track=rss



ABC News Clip (includes recording of childrens' squeals):

http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/news...116397&lang=en