SEBASTIAN — It could be late January or February before residents and businesses in Sebastian’s riverfront area could see an ordinance that is expected to bring relief to the loud noise coming from live entertainment at various venues.
“It hurts my heart,” said Councilwoman Andrea Coy of needing an ordinance to take care of the ongoing issue. She added that she had hoped the businesses would have been better able to police themselves.
The Sebastian City Council rejected a proposed noise ordinance and asked staff to come back with one that would establish acceptable noise levels and a way to measure them.
“This ordinance will correct nothing,” Sebastian resident and business owner Ruth Sullivan told the council.
She reported that she has studied decibel levels, noting that experts agree that 55 dB is considered safe. On some nights, she has measured levels ranging from 70 to 94 dB at venues including Suzy’s Tiki, Earl’s Hideaway and Capt. Hiram’s.
“We want the businesses to do well,” Sullivan said. “But we don’t want to be put out of business ourselves.”
Sullivan runs the Harbor Lights motel and has received numerous complaints from guests that they can’t sleep because of the noise.
Pam Morgan, the manager at Oyster Pointe – a resort and timeshare business – has had similar complaints from tenants, and has had one tenant leave before the term ended on the unit.
“There has to be a way,” Morgan said of balancing outdoor entertainment with the public’s need for peace and quiet.
Chris Pinson, co-owner of Suzy’s Tiki, apologized to the City Council and the audience for the establishment’s music disrupting their peace. He said he didn’t know there was a problem with the noise until the first complaints came in.
Pinson said he thought they were being good neighbors by turning down the music when complaints came in.
He added that it is difficult to determine if the music is too loud when at the bar. He and others have driven around outside the tiki from time to time to monitor the levels.
“We’re not sitting back as arrogant bar owners,” Pinson told the council.
He said they have been working with other riverfront venues with open air entertainment to determine how best to address the noise.
Such changes he plans to make include reorienting the bandstand and enclosing it to a degree as well as invest $7,000 to $8,000 worth of landscaping to provide a noise barrier between the tiki and its neighbors.
“We have some areas we need to work on,” Pinson said.
The Sebastian City Council agreed that the ordinance it needs to pass must have a way of determining what noise levels are acceptable.
“We need to start at square one,” Vice Mayor Don Wright said, noting that he does not believe the council nor staff have the expertise to set the levels.
Instead, he suggested staff work with noise experts to come up with the guidelines.
Councilman Richard Gillmor agreed that the ordinance should have set levels for measurement but added that businesses could reconfigure their speaker systems to address the issues now.
He suggested that the venues install small speakers under the eaves of their outdoor entertainment areas, where the people are, and direct the music inward.
“It can be contained,” Gillmor said.
Coy expressed concerns about not moving forward on the proposed ordinance because the issue has been going on for so long.
“We have to act,” she said. “We have to do something.”
Mayor Jim Hill told his fellow council members that the ordinance would have such a deep impact on the businesses in the riverfront district that they need to make sure they get the ordinance right.
“This isn’t rocket science,” he said, adding that perhaps the City of Sebastian could adopt or modify noise ordinances found in other small riverfront towns to address the issue.
Hill also recommended involving the community more in the decision making process, being sure to involve the businesses and the residents to strike a balance.
The noise ordinance on the books currently allows for the Sebastian Police Department or Code Enforcement to respond to noise complaints and request the offender to turn down the music, but officers cannot cite the offender.
Between now and when the council can move forward on new ordinance, Coy urged the public to call the non-emergency police phone number to report too loud music. That number is (772) 589-5233.
