Proposed new noise ordinance (as of April 7)

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Proposed new noise ordinance (as of April 7)

Submitted by emmettoconnell on Wed, 04/23/2008 - 7:38pm.

There was a question over at this post about what exactly the draft noise ordinance actually says. I found it over at the city's planning commission page.

Happy reading. In short, it looks like the limits for commercial spaces (the hot topic) are 65 at the building's wall and 60 within a living space.

From the planning commission's agenda, it looks like they're going to talk about the ordinance on May 5.

emmettoconnell's blog
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To Clarify:

Submitted by Just another voice on Wed, 04/23/2008 - 8:00pm.

Before this goes any further, something needs to be clarified:

The WAC, which is the law that enforces community regulations on noise, does not regulate how loud a building can be inside.

This needs to be repeated: You can play your music in your venue as loud as you want. The violation occurs when 60 & 65dB is heard at the complainants property line.

See WAC 173-60: Noise measurement for the purposes of enforcing the provisions of WAC 173-060-040 shall be measured in dBA with a sound level meter with the point of measurement being at any point within the receiving property.

So, when you read online how 60dB is the sound of a normal conversation, know that it should be thought of like this: If I can hear your normal conversation under my bed sheets, that is a problem. It is not that you can only have music playing in the venue at 60dB.

But I am Just Another Voice

good point

Submitted by emmettoconnell on Wed, 04/23/2008 - 8:06pm.

I picked this up with the reference to "sound dampening technology" in the document. But, that was in references to houses being built close to industrial sites.

I'm trying to get my hands on an article

Submitted by Katherine on Wed, 04/23/2008 - 8:44pm.

that I heard referenced by someone or other that looked at the costs of dampening sound from with in music venues. A lot of the fixes seemed simple and not too expensive, like speaker positioning and acoustic tile. I don't know anything about sound and its properties. Any ideas out there for businesses who want loud music?

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