Politics & Government

Noise Bill Headed Back to Council in Near Future

Bill that would amend noise limits at performance venues, in urban districts awaiting comment from County Executive Isiah Leggett.

A Montgomery County bill that would amend outdoor noise limits could return to the County Council within a matter of weeks, according to a county council attorney.

The bill is aimed to bump up noise limits for outdoor performances at certain county-operated performance venues including the Strathmore and waive them at designated outdoor performance areas within the county’s three urban districts — Bethesda, Silver Spring and Wheaton.

A Montgomery County Council committee

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The bill was scheduled to be on the County Council’s agenda Tuesday, but the council will instead wait on input from County Executive Isiah Leggett, according to the attorney, Mike Faden. The delay will also give the opportunity for more public comment on the bill.

“Some residents said they hadn’t gotten an opportunity to review it,” Faden said.

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Currently, the county imposes a noise limit of 65 decibels during the day and 55 at night in residential areas. The original bill arose from concerns that a planned new housing development near Strathmore Hall would incite complaints about outdoor entertainment there. The bill would bump up permissible noise levels outside certain entertainment venues like Strathmore to 75 decibels from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. from April through October.

After the original bill focusing on entertainment venues was introduced, attorneys for the Bethesda and Silver Spring urban districts in November submitted a re-draft that would waive noise limits for "permissible performance locations" — such as outdoor plazas — recommended by the urban districts' boards and designated by the county executive.

That process wouldn't require a public hearing, but it would require those who want to designate a performance location to file a noise information report to the urban district describing the entertainment and listing sponsors, times, audiences and activity.

Many in the urban districts have said the current noise restrictions aren’t realistic for vibrant, urban downtowns with a variety of outdoor performances.

"The noise [restrictions] were developed for a suburban environment," Ken Hartman, director of the told Patch at the November committee hearing. “This is what makes our downtowns so vibrant is having these outdoor concerts. It's part of the fabric of the downtown."

At a council town hall meeting in Bethesda last week, County Councilman Roger Berliner (D-Dist. 1) discussed the bill. Even ambient noise levels in downtowns, he said, were in violation of the current noise limits.

“We have something like 225 outside events in Silver Spring — events that are critical to the community and critical to the economic viability of Silver Spring — and every one of those is in violation,” Berliner said. “There was an effort to say, let’s modernize this.”

In Bethesda, many events — including the popular festival that draws 40,000 each year — feature outdoor music and performances.

It’s still unclear exactly when the bill will return, and when it does, whether it will be to a County Council committee or to the full council, Faden said.


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