Visit the official Stop the Noise website.
Across the south in Nashville, Austin, and Memphis, residents who hold music and culture dear to their hearts have restored the sound balance in their neighborhoods by creating fair and enforceable noise ordinances. As a concerned group of NOLA citizens—musicians, hearing specialists, residents, and business owners — we’ve come together to advocate for the enforcement of the City of New Orleans Noise Control Law and the Louisiana & New Orleans Alcohol Beverage Control Law, for the sake of restoring this balance in the city we hold dear.
Despite existing laws that require the control of excessive noise, enforcement does not exist in New Orleans. Enforcement is sporadic and/or nonexistent. Hundreds of noise complaints have been called in to NOPD, and the police have not responded and rectified the illegal situation. Sound experts have studied the level of noise in various areas and have stated that dangerous levels of noise are being emitted by clubs on Bourbon Street, in the Marigny, and Uptown. In fact, Bourbon Street is so loud that it is dangerous for bar employees, patrons and even people walking down the street. (See,http://www.euro.who.int/en/what-we-publish/abstracts/burden-of-disease-from-environmental-noise.-quantification-of-healthy-life-years-lost-in-europe
andhttp://noisenola.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/e92845.pdf) We will publish these reports on this site for all to see.
andhttp://noisenola.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/e92845.pdf) We will publish these reports on this site for all to see.On a different level, consider the street performer who uses movable electronic amplification to play under residential balconies at any time, day or night. In more commercial areas, street performers must play at damagingly high levels to compete for patrons and attention. Additionally, the crowds they attract seriously impact the economics of the businesses they block. Crowds back up against store windows and entries, and the noise they generate interferes with the business owner’s attempt to communicate with his or her own clients.
WHAT WE ARE NOT ABOUT…
1. Enforcing the Noise Ordinance is NOT about eliminating street musicians, parades, and the culture that makes us who we are.
2. Enforcing the Noise Ordinance is NOT about eliminating live music venues from neighborhoods
WE WANT TO HEAR THE MUSIC, NOT THE NOISE…
Being a city famous for music is good for everybody. Being infamous for noise isn’t good for anyone. Being a good neighbor sometimes means turning down the volume and a clear, enforceable noise ordinance benefits musicians, club owners, residents and businesses.
1. Live music is not required to use loud, portable amplifiers to be enjoyed or heard.
2. Nightclubs do not need to wage a “decibel war” with one another. Competing for the passing tourists by deliberately trying to be louder than their neighbor is not necessary to have a successful and profitable business. According to the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the sound levels are actually UNSAFE in the night clubs that are waging the decibel war.
3. Sound levels measured in excess of 95 decibels on the sidewalks outside some New Orleans clubs.
In October 2011, after numerous complaints from residents, the City Council, at Councilmember Kristin Gisleson Palmer’s request, a small sound study was undertaken by police and a consultant. Significant and dangerous sound levels in excess of 110 decibels (PEAK) in the middle of Bourbon street were identified. Decibel levels from street musicians outside the entertainment district on Royal street after midnight ranged from approximately 85-103 decibels (PEAK) at Ten to Forty feet.
4. If the sound blasting from speakers inside a club exceeds 95 decibels, any of its employees working a 4-hour shift are suffering hearing loss and OSHA regulations would require such an employer to supply hearing protection to any waiter or bartender who has to endure that environment for four hours or more.
5. At 97 decibels, anyone working three hours or more should be supplied with the kind of ear protection we see used at the airport tarmac.
Sound limits protect musicians, one of our city’s most valuable resources. Loud noise, like second-hand smoke, hurts people who can’t speak up about the working conditions they are forced to survive in…people like musicians, bartenders and waiters.
WHAT DO WE WANT?
- Simple, straightforward, easily enforced rules to detect violations.
- Music, not noise and NOT over-amplification.
- Accountable regulation and enforcement by trained, designated employees so the public knows who is responsible and enforcement can be consistent.
- Reasonable maximum noise limits tailored to particular areas and times.
- Scientific measuring criteria, working equipment and simple procedures to protect against arbitrary and official abuses and to pinpoint noise sources.
- Training in the law and noise control techniques for city employees and residents to improve consistent and fair enforcement.
- Limits on noise spillover to protect neighbors, both business and residents.
- Protection for historic traditions and festivals, while respecting residents.
- Elimination of the “race to the bottom” carried on by dueling clubs waging decibel wars against their neighbors.
- Best practices learned from noise regulation practiced by other cities with active entertainment areas, such as Austin, Memphis, and San Antonio.
- Penalties that are realistic and proportional to the offense.
