Neighbors Affirm Support for St. John's Bells, Local Group Denies Complaining—Exemption Bill Nears

Heard the bell story yet? Over the past week, the city, nation and blogosphere weighed in on a city ordinance that, if enforced, would fine a Manayunk church $700 daily for noise violations stemming from its 7 a.m. bell chime.

The story has received considerable attention, with news outlets like Napa Valley Register, Sioux City Journal, and Sarasota Herald-Tribune running reports. A Google News search yields 186 results on the story.

But the story could be short-lived as City Councilman James Kenney will move a measure today to exempt churches and eliminate the fine.

Many residents seem to favor the councilman and church, but residual tensions still exists as the Manayunk Neighborhood Council has caught blame for something it says it has nothing to do with.

How did this local issues become national news, and why is the Manayunk Neighborhood Council catching heat for it?

So here's the bell story: Saint John the Baptist Roman Catholic Church, which has sat on the corner of Rector and Cresson Streets for the last 179 years and hourly rung a bell that hangs in a tower 202 feet above its altar for the last 104 of them, received some bad news from the Philadelphia Air Management Services last week.

The office, a division of the Health Department that fields noise complaints, received a grievance about the bell's 7 a.m. opening ring—a Catholic call to prayer called the Angelus—and passed this complaint along to the church, but not before giving it some teeth.

"We were told that if they receive another complaint, they will investigate, and if we're found to be in violation we'll be fined $700 each day it rings," St. John Pastor Rev. James Lyons said.

What they would be in violation of is a 2006 city ordinance that states noise coming from any property (with a few exceptions) cannot be so loud that it exceeds by 5 decibels or more the background noise level of the nearest residential property.

A solution to the complaints—which began in February when the ringing restarted after a two-year repair necessitated hiatus—was devised by Kenney: change the law. The Democratic councilman-at-large will formally introduce several proposed exemptions to the ordinance, one of which gives sanctuary to the St. John's bell.

"We've added three additional exemptions," said Sarah Sachdev, Kenney's director of legislative affairs, and the new proposal's author.

Sachdev explained that the addendum would exempt schoolhouse bells and chimes, clock or bell tower gongs, and the bells, chimes, carillons, and human voices employed by religious institutions—or recordings of any of them—so long as these sounds last no more than 5 minutes in a given hour. There is no present proposed limit to the decibel volume of these demonstrations, but Sachdev emphasizes that the bill is a work-in-progress and that she and Kenney are open to input.

Despite an e-mail from a resident who argued the ringing had compromised his or her ability to recover from a recent operation, Kenney is steadfastly in the corner of St. John's.

"The councilman thinks that 7 a.m. is a reasonable time for a church to ring a bell, and this articulates that," said Sachdev of the bill she expects to be on Mayor Michael Nutter's desk and signed into law by late October.

It's a bill that will likely enjoy broad support. In an Philly.com reader poll with nearly 6,000 participants, 80 percent indicated the church should be allowed to continue its present ringing schedule. Nearby residents also seem largely supportive of the church.

"I've never been woken up by it," said Lynne Tomoski, whose residence at 121 Pensdale St. sits squarely in the long shadow the bell tower casts. "I've actually grown to like it."

Katie Yohe, a lifetime Catholic who lives five doors down from Tomoski, also supports the church.

"I usually don't even hear it, because it's such a constant part of my life, but when I do notice it I really like it," Yohe said, before contextualizing her support. "I grew up Catholic, went to Catholic school, and just think it's nice to live right next to a church."

Yohe is in a majority that is substantial but not unanimous. A young "ring zone" resident who asked not to be identified, voiced her displeasure with the noise and the disruption it causes.

"I don't like it. It's not booming, but it's loud enough to wake me up, or if I wake up and am trying to go back to bed, it interrupts that. I actually hope they do stop it."

Peter Barnak, who's lived at 4175 Apple St. for the last 75 years, is puzzled by such opposition.

"It's just silly," he said from a porch that allows him a near unobstructed view of the tower. "All these years the church has been here and now this? I love that bell. I really look forward to listening to it. Whoever's trying to stop it is stupid."

Therein lays a mystery of sorts. Who is behind the complaints?

"It is not us," said Manayunk Neighborhood Council President Kevin Smith. "Our official position is, we have no position. It's not an issue for us, never has been an issue, never has been raised. We have absolutely no position on the bells."

Smith protested so loudly because a few commenters implicated the neighborhood council on the initial report filed by The Philadelphia Inquirer. This implication, however unfounded, was enough to turn some populist anger in the direction of the neighbor group and its understandably frustrated leader.

"Thirty or 40 church members came to one of our meetings and called us anti-Catholic. A guy from Texas called me to explain the role bells play in the Catholic tradition. Somebody who didn't know who I was stopped me on the street to ask me why they were taking away the bells," said Smith, puzzled, and a little exasperated, by having become a divisive figure in the center of an issue he maintains he has nothing to do with.

The confusion stems, Smith suspects, from a sort of conflation.

"For the past two years there's been some animosity from the church directed at us, because the council had challenged them on a parking lot they built without permits. We contacted [Licenses and Inspections] and made sure they went through the proper zoning process, and they had to comply with some things."

He thinks the residual anger from that issue has fueled suspicion the Manayunk Neighborhood Council is behind the bell complaints, as well.

Lyons isn't certain of the source of the complaints, but is certain the church is in the right.

"We already moved the first ring from 6 a.m. to 7 a.m. even, which is when street construction starts. The trains are louder than the bell, and the busses are louder than the train," said Lyon from his rectory office before being interrupted by the bell's 3 p.m. chimes.

"It's not that loud. Is it?"