I met with jeff kingsbury at the artisan's cafe earlier this week to discuss some concerns I had about the impact of the ordinance on music events downtown. Jeff stated a few things which I would like to share here.

-the decible readings are taken from the property of the plaintif.

-the noise in question must exceed the ambiant noise

-noise ordinances are enforced by the building code folks, not by the police. someone found to be in violation of the ordinance will be give a 30 day notice to comply.

-jeff believes all of the downtown music venues are either currently in compliance with the ordinance or could be brought into compliance by keeping windows shut or investing in some relativly inexpensive sound baffling.

-jeff is going to add a 1 year sunset clause to the ordinance and bring it up for public review after that year to fix any adverse effect it might have on the music communnity.

this helped to aleviate some of my concerns and I appriciated the chance to communicate with jeff who was very generous with his time. Here are some further improvements I would like to see with the ordinance.

*require that sound measurements be taken from inside the plantif's building (not just at the property line) with doors and windows closed.

I feel that it is fair to ask that the plaintif do their best to keep the sound out by at least closing their windows.

*zone 5th avenue to the farmer's market as an entertainment district with a more lenient requirement.

I am afraid that even taken indoors, shows and dancing at places like jakes would still be louder then 60 db through the floor of the units above. Having an entertainment district would make it clearer to people thinking about where to move that there is a concentration of loud activity in that part of town.
So those are my thoughts on the matter. I would like to see some actual readings taken from inside residences ajoining jakes and across the street from the vault. if anyone is working on that angle please post your findings.
-ross