Urban Districts Seek to Amend Noise Ordinance

A Montgomery County Council committee today took up a bill that would look at amending noise restrictions for outdoor performances at entertainment venues like Strathmore Hall and in the county's three urban districts – Bethesda, Silver Spring and Wheaton.

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 11a.m. to 11p.m., April through October.

On Nov. 17, attorneys for the Bethesda and Silver Spring urban districts submitted a re-draft of the bill 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.

"It's basically just saying what they're doing – it doesn't have to be a technical noise mitigation plan or anything close to it," said council attorney Mike Faden at the hearing.

Representatives from  and the  say the current noise ordinance is outdated when it comes to vibrant downtowns like Bethesda.

"Most of the people who live and do work in the downtown expect a certain amount of noise," said Bethesda Urban Partnership deputy executive director Jeff Burton.

In Bethesda, some restaurants regularly have music in their outdoor courtyards, and festivals like Taste of Bethesda – which draws around 40,000 into the downtown each year – regularly features outdoor musical performances.

The noise levels were developed before certain portions of the county shifted from suburban, residential neighborhoods to vibrant, mixed- use communities, said Ken Hartman, director of the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Regional Services Center.

 "The noise ordinance was developed for a suburban environment," Hartman said. "We're desperately in need of an urban noise ordinance, and this is a good start….this is what makes our downtowns so vibrant is having these outdoor concerts. It's part of the fabric of the downtown."

Council Attorney Mike Faden took some issue with the proposed re-draft of the bill, writing in a recommendation, "It…waives all current county noise limits and imposes no upper limit at all, so if an overly enthusiastic urban district allows an overly enthusiastic concert promoter or bar to book the loudest rock band available and let them play through the night, the nearby residents would have no statutory recourse," though it would not preclude a court action, he wrote.

Faden recommended severing the urban district proposal from the bill to create an independent bill with its own hearing. However, the committee seemed to agree on imposing a few caveats rather than cutting the bill in half – that the County Executive could revoke designations for performance areas, and that the community be informed ahead of time when the proposed performance areas were being discussed at urban district meetings so they could have an opportunity to comment.

On the issue of public notice, William Kominers, an attorney for the Bethesda and Silver Spring urban districts, said, "That's why the idea of having that run through the urban district board for informing the public was an important part of this."

Hartman told Patch that regional service centers would also play a role in getting the word out to the public when potential performance areas were being taken up.