On December 7th, the City Commission discussed a follow up from a meeting held in October related to the city noise ordinance and voted 5-0 to direct staff to meet with impacted parties – including various citizen and neighborhood committees – and to bring back recommend changes in January.
Many citizens living within the urban core district expressed frustration due to lack of sleep from noise, and requested noise regulation from 10 pm. to 7 am. on week nights and from 11 pm. on weekend nights. The current noise regulation is from 2:00 am. to 7:00 am.
Staff reviewed the noise ordinances in 8 cities in Florida, 5 of which have entertainment districts. Noise ordinances in each case differed; however, most cities regulated noise starting between the hours of 10:00 pm. and 3:00 am. In an ordinance update held in October, TPD advised that most officers found the revised ordinance effective granting them authority to be the initiator of the complaint, and giving them a tool for voluntary compliance.
Hayley Aminsen, representing the Citizens Committee on Noise Pollution stated, “The urban core area is not livable and it’s a public health issue.”
Patrick Roe stated, “It’s just not fair to have that kind of loud noise especially on weekdays when people are trying to get enough sleep so they can go to their jobs.”
Previously, the city commission unanimously voted to enact a revised noise ordinance in March 2022, including the following:
- Allows law enforcement to be the complainant to initiate the enforcement of the noise nuisance, which is standard practice for a similar nuisance violation.
- Holds property owners accountable for noise nuisance on their property.
- Allows law enforcement to enforce noise standards such as the dispersion of crowds.
- Maintains Urban Core District times for enforcement.
- Increases penalties to $250 from $150 for an initial violation, $350 from $250 for a second violation, and maintaining $500 for subsequent violations.
Tallahassee City Commission Addresses Downtown Noise Issue added by Tristyn Leigh on
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My apologies on my loud music in my vehicle. I am an audiophile, and it is not just my car that is loud my home too. I have spent 10,000 dollars just on my car audio system. I enjoy it :/ I go to sound quality competitions and win big prizes for the crystal-clear audio that is not distorted. I get more people rocking out with me then you think though just saying.
As someone living with Epilepsy, the pop up parties are outrageous and incredibly inappropriate!! The music being blasted from vehicles is incredibly disruptive and has caused multiple seizures from sleep disturbances. Police should most definitely have the authority to shut them down immediately. I should not be forced to attend a party 2 blocks away from inside my own bedroom in the middle of the night.
Wooldridge
I enjoyed the concert and the walk to it when I attended, however, I did not enjoy the interruption of it halfway through it when everyone had to take cover from the downpour. I would like to see the numbers on how many events have had to be canceled due to inclement weather and how many more events could have been scheduled if our climate was more amenable to such.
Two words: ear plugs.
We live just blocks from the venue and can often hear the events taking place. Most are finished between 10-11pm and we are okay with that timing. However, as someone else mentioned, we are impacted more by the drag racing and loud vehicles speeding on the Parkway, Franklin Street, and Park Avenue and are frustrated as to why the PD don’t better enforce the t those issues.
We are much happier with the new noise ordinance as we were constantly awakened by the parking lot pop-up parties at the corner of Magnolia and Apalachee which were insanely loud that have now ceased.
Contrary to the comment about the uselessness of the outdoor venue, we enjoy being able to walk to many events and have found the weather to be just fine.
The Tallahassee weather is less than ideal for an outdoor venue. It is either too hot or too humid, rainy, hurricane, and the perfect outdoor venue weather is few and far and in between. On that note alone I am surprised that the outdoor venue made it through the process and that was even before they got to the noise issues. This is an example of the inmates running the asylum; city managers being picked by elected officials who are in federal prison or are going to be there very shortly. People vote these people in again and again and again so you get what you vote for.
People you did it to yourselves. Elected officials turn around and spend your tax paid dollars to laugh at all of you at the Chamber’s Buffalo Pool Party… people living near the venue may as well resign themselves to getting no resolve for something that if you would have never made it through in the first place.
I live in Indian Head Acres; I get to hear every concert they play at Cascades. If I lived in Myers Park, I’m sure I would have set fire to it by now. The Commission couldn’t have erected a bigger monument to their utter stupidity than the one they built at Cascades Park. Burn it to the ground.
This issue isn’t just about Cascades Park.
Many of us live far from there in west Midtown and get blasted by music from the Tennessee St strip as well as new venues on Monroe St.
God forbid we want to sleep too.
@ FLC Back when they held the meetings on the Park and had the Drawings for everyone to see bragging about how great it is going to be, I asked why the amphitheater wasn’t facing Monroe Street so the noise would go in that direction, they never answered me. I must have a habit of asking questions they don’t like because must go unanswered.
The occasional concert noise downtown (where I live) is minor compared to the 24/7 noise from cars, trucks and motorcycles with apparently disabled or no mufflers. Why do the police ignore this obvious and obnoxious problem?
This whole scenario is a joke.
When the Cascades project was undwerway the noise concern was a major issue.
The city, in conjunction with their chosen vendor, Scott Carswell, ignored concerns from the neighborhood about the noise potential.
The COT said it would be too expensive to build the amphitheater to face away from the Mayers Park neighborhood.
Heaven forbid some extra money to be spent building a earthern berm…
As far as i know all the noise comes from the Cities owned and operated Cascades Park whenever there is a late running concert. So in effect the City will be enforceing its new noise ordance against the City 100% of the time.
And that my friends is why the long suffering neighborhoods near Cascades have suffered late night noise pollution for so many years.
So if anybody is rejoiceing because their beloved Nannies they supported with their vote look like they are finally, after all these years going to address your noisy sleepless nights…well you may want to lay off that mind altering medicinal weed or whatever else you are doing to damage the thinking part of the brain.
Does anyone really think they will actually call the City Police and make The City shut down the next Willie Nelson concert? Never gonna happen.
City always “surveys” other cities, usually, effectively assuring nothing gets done – why not just listen to citizens and enact changes-
Yeah…Good luck with fixing this.