Noise Ordinance Recommendations

We wanted to let you know that an SBD Committee is recommending relaxing the noise ordinance to make it easier for bars and restaurants to have music and outdoor patios.

As you know, the current rules are:

7 am - 11 pm = 100 ft
11 pm - 7 am = 50 ft

The committee's current recommendation is:

Weekdays:
7 am – 11 pm = 300 ft
11 pm – 2 am = 150 ft
2 am – 7 pm = 50 ft


Weekends:
7 am – 2 am = 300 ft
2 am – 7 am = 50 ft


Their goal here was to make it easier for bars and restaurants to have live music and outdoor patios while still offering residents some protection (particularly in the middle of the night or on weeknights).  Adding additional time slots and weekend hours will allow for louder bands/crowds at key times.

Please note, this is just a recommendation from a committee at this point. The SBD Board will be discussing this topic at their regular meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 10 at 4 pm.  Everyone is welcome to attend or feel free to email the SBD Board members with your thoughts: http://discoverthedistrict.com/boards.html

We're also putting together some recommendations for reducing noise for Council and the CPD.  For instance, recommending that businesses are not cited when people are being loud on public sidewalks, working to place taxi stands in key areas away from residents so the noise doesn't bother them, etc.  The thought was that changing the ordinance isn't the only way to address this issue. There are many things that can be done to avoid conflicts over noise--and avoid the necessity of taking formal legal action against a business, something we'd all like to prevent.