By Steve Huffman

Salisbury Post

SPENCER — Forrest Clanton has lived in Spencer about two years and said he's had all he can stomach of the noise, the barking dogs and the front-porch partiers.

"I'm just ready to do something about it," he said.

And so, Clanton is asking fellow town residents who are equally fed up with the situation to join him when he appears Tuesday before members of the Board of Aldermen at their monthly meeting.

The meeting is held at 7 p.m. at Town Hall on Sixth Street.

Clanton has asked to be included on the agenda in order to discuss improving neighborhoods in town.

To help get his message out and drum up support for Tuesday's meeting, Clanton has been going about town distributing fliers. The message makes no bones about it:

"Are you tired of the barking dogs?" it asks.

"Are you tired of the boom, boom, booms of the stereos in the vehicles going down our street?

"Are you tired of the neighbors that party on their porches with loud mouths and blaring stereos?"

Clanton, who lives in the 400 block of South Carolina Avenue, said he realizes that rectifying all those problems is easier said than done, but said other towns and cities have had considerable success doing so.

Clanton said he visited Charleston, S.C., not too long ago and he and his wife walked the historic neighborhoods well after dark without feeling threatened or hearing the noise he often hears in Spencer after sundown.

"I'd like to find out how they're working that," Clanton said of the success other municipalities have had in quieting neighborhoods.

He said he and his wife enjoy Spencer's beauty and all the small town has to offer.

"We love being here," Clanton said. "It's just gotten to where I'm sick of the barking dogs. I'd love to see the place be nice, quiet and relaxing."

That's not always the case.

"We can't sit on our front porch sometimes because of all the noise," Clanton said. "We can't leave our windows open. It shouldn't be that way around here."

Spencer Police Chief Robert Bennett said he's always willing to speak with any town resident upset about noise.

"We answer every call," he said.

Charging a person with a noise ordinance involving a barking dog can be a bit of a problem, Bennett said, because the person making the complaint typically has to go to court if prosecution is pursued.

More often, officers let the dog owner off with a verbal warning.

"In Spencer, houses are so close, unless you forbid animals, they're going to be hard to control," Bennett said. "That's what dogs do, they bark."

Contact Steve Huffman at 704-797-4222 or shuffman@salisburypost.com.

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