Palmetto reconsiders making the city too quiet with new proposal

When it comes to a noise ordinance in Palmetto, it can be hard to get a consensus on a previous consensus.

Three weeks ago, the city commission agreed the most important part, for now, is to establish enforceable decibel levels to ensure law enforcement has a tool to prosecute, based on the State Attorney’s Office saying reasonable person standards would not to be the standard for a prosecution.

The city settled on moving forward with a limit of 60 decibels citywide between the hours of 6 p.m. and midnight and 55 decibels at other times of the day, but all seem to agree now that it was too low. Commissioner Jonathan Davis brought forth a new proposal Monday, somewhat mimicking Bradenton’s ordinance.

Davis recommends 75 decibels be allowed in areas of the city that are not residential, with those areas remaining at 65 throughout the day. The nonresidential hours would be from 7 a.m. until 10 p.m. on week days and until midnight on weekends and holidays, at which time levels must drop to 65.

Police Chief Scott Tyler had opposed the lower levels that were recommended earlier this month.

“The whole purpose is to make all the noise you want on your property as long as you aren’t bothering your neighbor,” Tyler said. “I think we need to be careful about regulating what people do on their property.”

Commissioner Harold Smith opposes doing anything, saying, “I believe doing this will create more problems. Right now, we don’t have a problem and this is going to create a serious problem with decibels because people are going to call just to call.”

Smith stands alone with not doing anything, however. Commissioner Tambra Varnadore opposes allowing higher levels until midnight, but a general consensus was given to move Davis’ recommendations forward to the next discussion, which stalled again once entertainment districts were reconsidered.

Staff mapped out four proposed locations based on previous discussions, but Smith disagreed with the locations and Varnadore said she would outright oppose the creation of any entertainment districts.

“I don’t want them,” Varnadore said.

City attorney Mark Barnebey said the noise ordinance should paint a larger picture of what the commission wants for the future of the city. With the city focusing on mixed use projects in the downtown area, the challenge is to bring residential and commercial together for a more vibrant downtown.

“That’s the premise of an entertainment zone,” said Mayor Shirley Groover Bryant. “People who are coming into the city looking to build want to know what the parameters are before they do any financial planning. They clearly want to know where they would be encouraged to build.”

Bryant predicted that no matter what the commission ultimately does, “Nothing you do will be set in stone. This will be coming back. Let me be frank, this is going to be a fluid document that will likely need to be revisited.”

This story was originally published August 29, 2017 at 11:38 AM with the headline "Palmetto reconsiders making the city too quiet with new proposal."