They moved to the Plymouth waterfront, drawn by the spectacular bay views from their living room windows.
Life at Copper Cove Village was idyllic, and the condo owners loved calling it home.
They knew that living in the downtown area might come with some noise. But they never imagined their lives would be upended by a gaggle of loud young people who appear to have taken up residence in the town parking lot across Water Street.
For more than two years, Copper Cove residents say, they have endured raucous disturbances that are impossible to block out. The young people congregate there year-round, though more often during the warmer months.
“We deal with public drinking, loud music, cars peeling out, drag racing down Water Street, drug deals and harassment of residents,” Brian Geary, a condo board member, wrote to town manager Derek Brindisi in October.
“You can’t sit on your balcony or even watch TV without hearing the noise,” he said in an interview with the Independent.
The owners of the 42-unit complex have taken dozens of videos and photos, which they shared with town officials. In September 2023, they brought to Town Hall a box of empty beer cans and nips they collected from activity the night before.
But nothing they have done so far has lowered the noise level, they say. Or spurred the kids – who appear to be mostly teenagers – to move from what has become a prime hangout spot, the residents say.
They feel abandoned by the town. They believe police could enforce the town’s noise bylaw or other laws against disturbing the peace. Or help to find another place for them to gather.
Because nothing happens, the residents say, the teenagers have become emboldened and “so brazen they will taunt and swear at the officer if he does approach them,” Nicholas Zammarelli, the condo board president, told the town manager in a September 2023 email.
They also harass residents, especially those they believe have complained to police, he said.
“No one wants to subject themselves to cars screeching and incredible foul language nor should anyone be expected to accept this,” Zammarelli wrote to Brindisi in September 2023.
“Calls have been made and continue to be made but most residents I talked to say the response they get is apathetic at best,” he wrote.
“One night when my wife called, rather than the noise complaint getting addressed, the officer on the other line proceeded to tell her the kids need a place to go and schooled her on the right to congregate.”
He described the officer’s response as “completely unacceptable.”
Geary said town officials believe the residents are “delusional,” exaggerating a minor nuisance.
But Brindisi said he hears them.
“We understand there is a high level of frustration by the residents,” he said. “They seem to think there’s drugs being dealt, alcohol consumption, and unruly behavior. There have been times that it’s been witnessed and those times it was addressed.”
In general, though, when police arrive, they find nothing amiss — no excessive noise, drug dealing, or other illegal activity, he said.
Residents believe the teens are being tipped off when police are on their way, which Brindisi conceded might be true.
In fact, Plymouth police have patrolled the lot hundreds of times since January 2023, department logs show.
There were more than 800 log entries for Copper Cove, though not all were related to parking lot noise. But they made only two arrests and wrote up five incident reports.
Even Police Chief Dana Flynn visited a few times in an unmarked cruiser “to make his own observations and he didn’t find anything,” Brindisi said.
In August 2023, for example, police visited the lot 25 times, police logs show. On six days, they visited multiple times.
Generally, the officers’ log entries are like this one:
“No activity, suspicious or otherwise, observed,” reported Patrol Officer Andrew Barry, documenting an Aug. 10, 2023, visit.
Sometimes the entries are more expansive.
On Aug. 4, 2023, police responded to an anonymous caller who reported “a group of people in the lot across the street from Copper Cove playing loud music.”
Patrol Officer Joseph Linscott said he “spoke to the crowd of people who advised me they had also told the one kid whom they were familiar with, to turn his music down.”
“I advised them to continue keeping any music at a low volume and if we returned, they would be requested to leave the parking lot. They all understood,” he wrote.
Residents don’t accept the town’s explanation. They feel that the rowdy groups could be moved or cited for making noise or disturbing the peace.
“Here we are simply asking for help, and we have gotten nothing but friction,” said Geary. “The town is not for the taxpaying citizen looking to live in peace.”
“We only want what is best for our community,” he added. “What is going on is affecting the quality of life for our residents.”
They hope the town’s new anti-loitering bylaw, which just took effect, might help.
It prohibits anyone from staying in a parking lot between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. “with the intent to cause public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm or recklessly create a risk of public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm.”
But police could run into the same obstacle they face when trying to enforce existing laws — an officer must witness an alleged violation to issue a citation.
Even if the new bylaw is enforced, the penalty for a loitering violation is minimal — a civil fine of only $50 for the first offense. Fines can increase to $150 for a third offense.
“I don’t think it’s going to be a silver bullet,” Brindisi said. “But hopefully, we’ll have a much quieter summer [next year] than in years past.
“I would love for them to find another home, hopefully out of Plymouth,” he said.
Andrea Estes can be reached at andrea@plymouthindependent.org.