- May 1, 2024
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Longboat Key Town Commissioners chose to leave rules on noise alone this week after learning there really weren't many repeat offenders that would prompt a new look at existing regulations.
The town’s noise regulations were updated just over a year ago, Jan. 10, 2022, but town staff had identified four new exemptions they were hoping to add to the list already present in the code.
Changes included clarification of definitions and the separation of performance stages on town-owned properties from recreational facility exemptions, giving it its own exemption.
Other exemptions would have included:
As it stands, the current allowable decibel level in residential areas on the barrier island during the daytime is 60 decibels. During the nighttime, 55 decibels is allowable. Normal conversation is typically registered at 60, and in comparison a loud motorcycle is typically measured at 95 decibels.
After the staff presentation, Vice Mayor Maureen Merrigan asked Director of Planning, Zoning and Building Allen Parsons that if everyday things such as a fountain and air conditioning were exceeding the town’s decibel limits, would raising the limit be beneficial.
It was also brought to the commission’s attention that the fountain exemption and the inclusion of the definition of a public space were following one-off incidents where one person expressed confusion on the town’s definition of public space and a complaint of a neighboring fountain.
Such knowledge made commissioners fearful that moving forward with rule changes would open the door for the exemption list to be ever-growing.
Commissioners said they would leave rules as they stand but would look again at potential changes in 2024.
