Tonight the City Council will take up the noise ordinance. The Main Street Merchants Association (MSMA) supports a strong, enforced noise ordinance, shares many of the concerns voiced by neighbors and individual merchants about noise, has worked with and wants to continue working with the community to strengthen the ordinance where necessary, but has major concerns about and opposes some of what is proposed.
Some sections, if passed, could be very detrimental to Main Street businesses. The negative impact would be felt not only by these merchants but also by their numerous customers, many of whom moved to and live in Ocean Park because they enjoy their proximity to the street, the outdoor dining and the nightlife.
Through the creation of a “transition zone,” the proposed ordinance would reduce the allowed volume of activity (conversation, music) and would shift the measurement from the source of the sound, for example, an outdoor patio where people are dining, to an area outside of the complainant’s residence.
Conversation at 59 decibels, currently legal, would become illegal as the new allowed volume limit would be 55 decibels.
MSMA opposes the lowering of the allowed volume level (60 decibels after 10 p.m.) through the “transition zone” and related changes in measurement practices.
The ordinance also includes a section giving the noise enforcement officer the power to suspend a business license for 30 days, on the spot. This is a remarkable and disturbing expansion of police power that could, as some merchants fear, play into the hands of a single zealous complainant at the expense of the merchant and the customers, especially when combined with the proposals addressed above. While the MSMA does not oppose tough enforcement and indeed has called for stiffer fines, the MSMA does oppose the inclusion of this section in the noise ordinance.
Of additional concern is that no evidence has been presented that lowering the allowed volume is necessary or would solve most of what are generally lumped together as “noise problems.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 25, 2003. Read the original PDF.