At its first meeting of 2010 on January 4, City Council considered an amendment to the city’s noise ordinance that would decrease the allowable levels in commercial Belmont from 75 decibels to 55 after 11pm. Last summer, Belmont residents voiced concerns about possibly adding more noise, among other things, to an already noisy corridor when a rezoning application for a new restaurant at 814 Hinton Ave. was filed and later approved by Council.
Jim Tolbert, director of Neighborhood Development Services, told Council that city staff has been researching noise ordinances around the country and has looked at Austin, Texas and Boulder, Colorado.
The proposed ordinance would ultimately limit the noise level in Neighborhood Commercial Corridor Districts to 55 decibels. “We feel that it is a reasonable level,” said Tolbert, noting that the proposed new level is equivalent to loud talking.
Councilor David Brown objected to being rushed. “My feeling is that we are being asked to make a very big decision very quickly, and I think we need to make a decision,” he told Council. “I think we need to improve things in Belmont, probably in other neighborhoods, but I am a little worried that we don’t have enough information to know exactly what we are doing.” Mayor Dave Norris agreed.
“This is a major decision that is going to affect a lot of people on either side,” he said.
Originally, city staff placed this ordinance amendment on the consent agenda, but given the high level of interest and attendance, residents had the chance to address Council.
Jesse Fiske, president of the Belmont-Carlton Neighborhood Association, told Council that among all problems in Belmont, “we found that the major issue was noise and aside from the actual sleepless nights, and everything that goes with that, we found that there is a lack of conduct that happens later in the evenings,” he said. Fiske, a musician himself, supports the amendment to the ordinance because “that perhaps will give folks an idea that this is a residential area,” he said.
Jason Eagleburger, a musician who lived in Austin, Texas for five years, said that in his experience, in Austin, at 55 decibels, “no bar, nor restaurant would be able to survive, because it’s impossible that any band could play,” he said.
Yet, of the restaurants in the corridor, Tolbert says that only one has a noise issue. “We really only have one restaurant that has a noise issue in Belmont, that we get complaints about and they were issued a notice of violation today not complying with the ordinance,” he told Council, speaking of Bel Rio, a restaurant on Hinton Ave. “What they are doing there is not appropriate.” Calls to Jim Baldi, owner of Bel Rio, were not immediately returned.
Council decided to defer the vote and hold a second meeting in the neighborhood, at the suggestion of newly elected Councilor Kristin Szakos, to give all residents and business owners the chance to bring forth their ideas.
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