Don't Stop The Music - St. Petersburg, FL Noise Ordinance

The St. Petersburg City council is set to review a new noise ordinance which has been drafted without involvement from local businesses. Furthermore, they have openly admitted in public meetings that they have not conducted any formal financial impact studies but they "feel" that downtown will not be impacted greatly. If this ordinance passes as proposed, it has the potential to have a severe negative impact on the culture and vibrant night life for which the city of St. Petersburg has become known.

PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO WRITE TO THE CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS WHO WILL BE VOTING ON THIS PROPOSED ORDINANCE

District 1
Council Member Gerdes
Email: [email protected]
District 2
Council Member Kennedy
Email: [email protected]
District 3
Council member Dudley
Email: [email protected]
District 4
Council Member Rice
Email: [email protected]
District 5
Council Member Kornell
Email: [email protected]
District 6
Council Member Nurse
Email: [email protected]
District 7
Council Member Newton
Email: [email protected]
District 8
Council Member Foster
Email: [email protected]

UPDATE 3:
Tuesday, May 12th: At the meeting today, which included residents and businesses alike, the main and positive outcome for the opponents to the proposed noise ordinance was that the city council member Karl Nurse, who brought this ordinance to the table, has stated that for the time being he will only be moving forward with the section of the ordinance that allows the city to increase fines for the current noise ordinance incrementally up to $500 max without asking a judge's permission to do so. Of the ideas brought forth by residents and businesses, the only one that really took hold, that both sides could agree with that also would be constitutional, was to look into consulting with an Architectural Acoustic Engineer to see what sort of sound mitigation techniques can be employed by businesses and residents alike to deflect and/or absorb sound away from residents. It was even mentioned that there may be subsidies the city could provide to assist in doing so. Another option that was suggested was to see if we could move to a decibel system. Due to the legal (here in Florida anyway) and technical difficulties of implementing such a system, this idea is not being pursued at this time. Economic impact studies were also mentioned since many residents and businesses had differing opinions of the economic impact of the proposed ordinance. At this time, it is not clear whether the city will be conducting such a study. Overall the meeting was a positive step forward. Much debate and research is still to come if we are to reach a mutually agreeable position for all.

UPDATE 2:
Excerpt from the Creative Loafing article linked below:
"I do not support this ordinance as written and will vote no unless there are some reasonable changes made to the ordinance," said Councilman Steve Kornell in a Facebook post.

UPDATE 1:
The City Council will receive the draft of the proposed ordinance at the next council meeting on May 7th at 8:30AM for First Reading and will be setting the public hearing date at that time. (PUBLIC DEBATE OVER THE NEW PIER WILL BE THE PRIMARY BUSINESS FOR THIS MEETING - I expect that the Noise Ordinance issue will not come up until mid afternoon)

Related News Articles:
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http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/baybuzz/st-petersburg-noise-ordinance-advances/2226729

http://cltampa.com/politicalanimal/archives/2015/04/28/proposed-noise-ordinance-could-quiet-downtown-st-pete-when-the-partys-just-starting#.VUEfDGZhOG8