Noise ordinance debate may end tonight
The fat lady may be singing tonight.
If all goes as anticipated, the year-long debate over changing the city’s noise ordinance will be settled tonight at a special meeting of the Key West City Commission. There are three proposed ordinances on the agenda that would change noise regulations. Two, involving allowable loudness during specific times, are second readings so if commissioners vote to approve those ordinances, they would become law immediately.
The third ordinance, involving speaker placement and violation penalties, is coming up for a first reading. If approved, it will move to a second reading vote at the next commission meeting.
Commissioners tried to find a middle ground at their last meeting by proposing to increase legal decibel levels but allow enforcement officers to come closer to the establishment to measure sound levels, a move some entertainment venue managers said would force them to eliminate live music during the day, when the allowable decibel levels are lower.
Those higher decibel levels are unchanged in the current version of the proposed ordinance but in an effort to appease residential property owners who have complained, commissioners will also consider curtailing the time when louder decibel levels are allowed in specific neighborhoods. In the more residential areas along or near Duval Street, the louder levels would apply from noon to midnight, instead of 4 p.m. to 3 a.m.
“This change would recognize the highly dense commercial nature of these districts, while reducing the sound based upon the fact they are comprised of a number of sleeping facilities,” City Attorney Shawn Smith said in a memo to commissioners.
Smith also drew up language for the commissioners to review that would allow the entertainment-heavy area along lower Duval to have louder decibel levels from 10 a.m. to 3 a.m., instead of 4 p.m. to 3 a.m. That would protect live music performed during the day.
Residents, bar owners and musicians are expected to return to Old City Hall tonight to debate what has become an emotional issue. Twenty five people wrote letters in support of the new sound ordinance while 46 wrote letters of opposition and an additional 563 people signed a form letter sent to the city clerk’s office urging commissioners to approve lifting the more restrictive decibel levels at 10 a.m. instead of 4 p.m.
“Please consider the livelihoods of the musicians, restaurant owners and bars, their staff and the rippling effect on the local economy if you turned down the music to just barely above an audible speaking tone, especially on Duval Street,” said Kimberly Walsh in an email to commissioners.
“It has been 22 years since we moved to Key West. There have been continuing and cumulative problems with loud noise and music drifting through our neighborhood. It does not get better, it gets louder with the years,” wrote Patricia Rogers in another email to commissioners. “As new businesses come in, they feel the need to be the loudest on the block to attract attention.”
The other proposed ordinance, which will receive a first reading tonight, sets a 15-foot interior setback for speakers and amplification systems. That ordinance singles out open air establishments, saying the requirement “pertains to sound that emanates directly from the establishment to a street, sidewalk, alley or other thoroughfare.”
The ordinance also allows the city manager to revoke or suspend an establishment’s entertainment license if the location has been found guilty of violating noise ordinances three times in a 12-month period. However, the ordinance also gives the city commission the authority to reverse the city manager’s decision.
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