Council amends downtown noise law, may well do so again

The Naperville City Council on Tuesday amended the city's ordinance on the noise from music in the downtown, but as more and more residences are constructed there, we're going to bet this will be an ongoing issue.

The amended ordinance increases the distance at which sound is allowed from 100 feet to 300 feet.

It also changed the way it would be measured from reading the decibel level to monitoring the level by ear.

Simply stated, if the police and code compliance people who are charged with enforcing the law can hear music more than 300 feet from the bar, restaurant or other establishment from which it is emanating, then the music is too loud and in violation of the city's ordinance.

The problem with the 100-foot restriction, according to city staff and concurred with by council members, is that it is virtually impossible to have music if the distance it can be heard is that short.

Moreover, reading decibel levels makes it virtually impossible to tell from which establishment the music is coming. Or, as Councilman Kenn Miller put it, "How do you know if the noise is not coming from restaurant A as opposed to bar B?"

This revamping of the ordinance comes from complaints last year from some downtown residents that the noise was too loud and the law wasn't being enforced. When it was enforced and tickets were written, the restaurant and bar owners complained.

The Downtown Naperville Alliance had asked the council to consider revising the law in order to make compliance easier.

What it really comes down to is that if you choose to live in a vibrant downtown you've got to expect some noise - whether it's music, motor vehicles, noisy crowds on the street or any of the other sounds that come with summer in the city.

It just comes with living in a downtown.

Frankly, the way Naperville's downtown has grown means that about the last thing one should want to hear in the evening is the sound of silence - a sure sign of economic problems.

The council's charge in an issue like this is to try to find a compromise that cuts restaurants and bars enough slack that they can have a music level that satisfies their patrons who sit outside, without creating such a din that it discourages people from wanting to live in the downtown.

It's a fine line, and we think the council is making a good attempt to try to walk it but we anticipate this law will be tweaked more than once as the residential component of downtown grows.