La Tulipe cancels all upcoming events after Court of Appeal order to stop noise from concerts

Quebec's Court of Appeal has ordered La Tulipe, a Montreal music venue, to prevent any noise from being heard inside or outside an adjacent building, leading the venue to temporarily halt its activities.

Located on Papineau Avenue in the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough in a theatre over a century old, La Tulipe is permitted to continue operating only if the sound from its equipment does not disturb neighboring residents, whether inside their homes or on their terraces, according to a ruling released on Monday.

However, with noise complaints coming from the other side of a shared wall, La Tulipe's management announced that they have no choice but to cancel all upcoming events "with sadness, disappointment, and disbelief."

"This challenging situation that we’ve been dealing with for eight years has cost us significantly in terms of revenue, legal fees, and other damages," said a statement from La Tribu, the Quebec entertainment company that operates La Tulipe.

The ruling is stricter than a previous Quebec Superior Court decision from last May, which required soundproofing measures to reduce the venue's noise. The Court of Appeal determined that the Superior Court judge had relied too heavily on Section 8 of the borough's noise regulations, which sets a maximum noise threshold and allows soundproofing to reduce noise below that level.

Instead, the court ruled that Section 9 applies, which prohibits any noise from sound equipment, including loudspeakers, from reaching neighboring properties, regardless of volume.

"The noise from loudspeakers ... when heard outside an establishment is considered by the municipal legislator to be harmful to the urban environment, regardless of its intensity or the time of day or night," the ruling stated.

Dispute Stems from Permit Error

La Tulipe's management claims they had no issues with neighbors for "more than 15 years" until a real estate investor purchased the adjacent building.

Pierre-Yves Beaudoin bought the neighboring property in 2016, which had mistakenly been approved by the city for residential use despite being zoned for commercial purposes.

The building, where Beaudoin and 16 tenants live, used to be owned by La Tulipe and is poorly insulated against sound.

In a May 15, 2023 decision, Justice Azimuddin Hussain noted that music from La Tulipe "makes the walls and floors vibrate" in Beaudoin’s building at least twice a week. Between August 2017 and April 2019, Beaudoin filed about 20 noise complaints with La Tulipe's staff.

Concerns Over La Tulipe’s Future

Following the Court of Appeal’s ruling, Chantal Rossi, the Official Opposition's culture critic from Ensemble Montréal, expressed concern about the venue’s future.

"We call on the Plante administration to tell us how it plans to ensure the sustainability of La Tulipe and what impact this judgment will have on the implementation of its future nightlife policy," she said in a statement.

In response, the mayor’s office issued a statement saying the city would "do what is necessary to support La Tulipe in its efforts to improve the soundproofing of its performance space."

The statement emphasized the importance of preserving Montreal’s cultural vibrancy while addressing the challenges of coexistence between cultural institutions and neighborhood residents. It noted that such litigation should be avoided "at all costs."

"The survival of our cultural institutions, which contribute to Montreal’s reputation, is at stake," the statement concluded.