OXFORD – The charges against the owner of a local guitar studio for violating the Village of Oxford’s noise ordinance have been dismissed by the village justice.

Nate Gross, who gives guitar lessons to 30 local kids out of his storefront on Canal Street in Oxford, appeared before the Hon. Charles K. Race in the Oxford Village Court Tuesday night.

Gross has received two appearance tickets for complaints filed by a resident of the village’s commercial district alleging he violated the village’s noise ordinance on two Thursday evenings when Gross’ band Panhandle practiced at the facility.

According to Gross, who is the group’s lead guitarist and vocalist, Panhandle practices just once a week, Thursdays from 5 to 8:30 p.m. He is adamant that practice ended before the village’s stated noise curfew of 9 p.m. on both of the dates the complaints were made.

But the resident’s complaint cites another section of the local law, 188-2 (3), which prohibits “noise from any sound reproduction system, operating system or any musical instrument ... in such a manner as to be heard 25 feet from its source or property line.”