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Proposed noise bylaw pulled from Town Meeting
Banner Daily Update Mon. Apr. 7
By Pru Sowers
Banner Staff
PROVINCETOWN – Worried that the business community won’t support it, a controversial proposal to set acceptable noise levels is going to be indefinitely postponed at tonight’s Special Town Meeting.
Town manager Sharon Lynn said Friday that she would recommend that the article, No. 6, be pulled from the warrant until further research can be done to create a “quantifiable decibel reading.” The article, which was voted down at last November’s Town Meeting, proposes setting decibel levels and time restrictions on noise made by street musicians, bars, cars and construction projects.
However, some bar and club owners along Commercial Street are worried that setting a specific decibel level would subject them to the same $50 fine faced by street musicians, who complained last year of being harassed by police issuing tickets. Lynn said she needed to meet with business owners to see what level of noise was acceptable at a distance of 50 feet.
“What is excessive noise? We need to do more on that,” she said. “We’re not trying to hinder the noise that’s been on Commercial Street forever.”
Additional noise level readings will be taken this summer to establish a threshold acceptable to both club owners and other commercial property managers who have complained about dance music spilling onto the streets and loud street musicians, Lynn said.
The town’s current noise bylaw, which calls for a $50 ticket when noise can be heard from 50 feet away, has been difficult to enforce consistently by police. Two street performers also challenged the law’s subjectivity last year, and town counsel issued an opinion that their challenge would likely be successful in court.
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Apr 3rd, 2008