SAN RAFAEL, Calif. (KRON) – Residents of a San Rafael encampment said they had been hearing loud music coming from a nearby store for three nights in a row, until a federal judge finally stepped in and ordered the store to shut it down.
“It was tough,” said Bruce Gaylord, who lives in the camp. “It was so loud. It was like a rock concert. I couldn’t sleep at all the second and third nights.”
Gaylord moved to the San Rafael encampment last year after a series of unfortunate events.
“I stopped in Barstow, California, to buy some mental health medication, and that’s when my truck was stolen,” he said.
Gaylord said loud music began blasting from East Bay Tire, located at 773 Lincoln Ave., sometime Friday night.
He said he called the police but they did nothing, so he decided to call homeless advocate Robbie Powelson, who went to the encampment and began recording.
“We measured the decibel levels of the sound, and it was measured between 50 and 118 decibels. Overall it was way above the noise ordinance for San Rafael, so it was illegal,” Powelson said.
On Monday, Powelson filed for a restraining order against Easy Bay Tire Co. A judge ordered the company to immediately stop playing the music.
Powelson said the tire company said the music was coming from a security system along the fence facing the encampment. KRON 4 reached out to East Bay Tire but they did not respond to a request for comment.
“It’s ridiculous what they’re trying to do. They’re saying we haven’t been good neighbors to them, but they haven’t filed any police report,” Gaylord said.
Powelson said another court hearing on the music order is scheduled for late next month.
While the cessation of the music may have been a victory for the encampment’s residents, they’re still fighting to stay in the city. Another hearing against the city is scheduled for June 24 in federal court. If San Rafael wins, the encampment residents could be evicted from the property.
