> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Businesses get loud over new noise law
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/businesses-get-loud-over-new-noise-law/
- Published: 2003-09-02T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T02:51:04.000Z
- Author: Carolyn Sackariason
- Tags: Business, Main St, #archive-import

*City Hall attempts to find middle ground for noise*

Business owners are making a lot of noise over City Hall’s attempt to make Santa Monica quieter.

Fliers circulating along Main Street warn people that City Hall’s proposed noise ordinance could result in many bars and restaurants closing early. The flier calls for the public to contact their elected officials and demand that the effort to quiet the city be stopped.

City officials say the proposed ordinance won’t result in Main Street or any other business district closing early. They say the new law is in response to the 10,000 noise complaints that City Hall has received in the past 18 months from residents, many of whom live near commercial areas.

City officials say the current noise law is unenforceable and the proposed ordinance is aimed at correcting that. It’s unknown how many businesses and individuals in the past year have been cited for being too loud, but it’s very few, according to city officials.

Business owners throughout the city are worried that the proposed changes would hurt their operations, mostly because they feel City Hall hasn’t done an adequate job in determining the law’s full effects.

The proposed law would lower the decibel level in a commercial zone by as much as 10 points after 10 p.m. Right now, if a noise is made in a commercial zone and a resident hears it in his neighborhood, the decibel level is governed by what’s allowed in the commercial zone, which is between 60 and 65 decibels. But the proposed change would create a “transition zone,” which means that the allowable decibel level is dictated by where the noise is heard from — most likely the residential neighborhood that has between a 50 and 55 decibel level limit.

“It averages out the decibel levels,” said city planner Bill Rodrigues.

And that’s what worries business owners on Main Street, who say a small faction of nearby residents don’t like the noise emanating from the busy street.

461,“There is no evidence that the current level of 65 decibels is too loud,” said Gary Gordon, executive director of the Main Street Merchants Association. “If it’s lowered, it could harm outdoor dining and some live music establishments, and we are concerned about the negative impact on some of these businesses.”

Gordon said City Hall hasn’t provided enough evidence or data that proves the noise problem stems from businesses. The Main Street Merchants Association collected 16 months of data from the Santa Monica Police Department that tracked noise complaints from June of 2002 to April of 2003\. There were 306 noise complaints on Main Street during that time and 25 of them were directed at businesses — the rest came from general activity like people talking and yelling on the street, cars, motorcycles and transients, Gordon said.

“The proposal doesn’t even address the problem or the majority of complaints,” he said. “They haven’t demonstrated that there is anything wrong with 60 or 65 decibels or what the effects of 50 or 55 is... If you are going to propose a law, you ought to know what the effects are.”

> “The proposal doesn’t even address the problem or the majority of complaints. They haven’t demonstrated that there is anything wrong with 60 or 65 decibels or what the effects of 50 or 55 is... If you are going to propose a law, you ought to know what the effects are.” — — GARY GORDON Executive director, Main Street Merchants Association

Mayor Richard Bloom said City Hall is simply responding to residents’ complaints about the city becoming too loud and officials are taking into consideration business owners’ concerns. That’s why the ordinance was put on hold several times in the past year, he added. And to circulate a flier suggesting City Hall is trying to shut down Main Street is alarmist, and it suggests that elected leaders are susceptible to intimidation, which they are not, Bloom added.

“Every city has a noise ordinance but we may be the only city that has one that’s not enforceable,” he said. “There have been a lot of complaints but they aren’t being enforced so there is some fine tuning to the proposal. But to not do anything under the illusion that there is simply no noise problem would be a mistake.”

Asked if he knew what the new law’s effects could be on businesses, Bloom pointed to who the law is intended to protect.

37A,“Will it improve the life of residents?” he asked. “People are entitled to a little peace and quiet.”

By comparison, the noise a Big Blue Bus generates is over 80 decibels, as do some city garbage trucks. But those noises are considered “intermittent,” meaning they don’t last for 15 minutes, which is the standard for a continuous sound.

However, some residents who live north of Wilshire Boulevard and are subject to daily garbage pick-ups between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. would consider that noise as steady and continuous, despite the government’s standards.

The proposed law has been in the works for more than a year. Gordon was contacted last July by a City Hall official who told him the ordinance was moving quickly through the approval process and was supposed to be approved before December. That’s when the business community got involved. The ordinance has been in limbo ever since.

5EE,“For the past 14 months we have been trying to figure out why they are making the changes,” Gordon said, adding he met with city officials, paid consultants and business owners for the first time about the issue last October. But he didn’t get many answers.

“The staff had no information but said the law was going to be passed by the holiday,” he said. “In all of my years dealing with government, it was the most Kafkaesque meeting I’ve ever been to.”

The proposed law is scheduled to be approved by the City Council later this month.

“Our current noise ordinance has been the subject of controversy because the standards are not enforceable,” Bloom said. “(The proposal) has been bouncing around for a long time.”

Rodrigues and city planner Kim Christensen said it’s difficult to answer how the proposed law could effect businesses. But the intention of the ordinance is to give clearer direction on how to enforce it and make it less subject to interpretation. Rodrigues said he doubts outdoor dining would be eliminated because of the new law.

Christensen said the law would most likely affect new businesses applying for alcohol licenses and city approval. Their operations would be subject to scrutiny with the new noise law.

“There would be opportunity for us to mitigate the residential and business areas with landscaping and buffer zones or even their hours of operation,” she said. “It’s to create a balance between the two.”

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 2, 2003.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/090203.pdf?ref=smdp.com)