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Hillsborough Adjusts Noise Policy To Reflect Duration

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By MIKE SALINERO

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 19, 2008

TAMPA - Hillsborough County adopted new noise rules Thursday designed to increase restrictions on amplified music played after 11 p.m. and make it easier to take annoying noisemakers to court and fine them.

Residents in at least one neighborhood, though, said they are suspicious the rule changes actually will allow more noise at the Ford Amphitheatre.

Hillsborough's old noise ordinance was hard to enforce because it did not conform to industry standards or the latest science of sound measurement, said Jerry Maxwell, director of air quality for the county's Environmental Protection Commission.

The old rule had a sound magnitude limit of 65 decibels. Technically, someone would be in violation for producing a noise over 65 decibels for less than a second.

What the old rule was missing was the duration of a sound - an important element in how annoying and bothersome a sound is to the human ear, Maxwell said. Now, using new measuring devices, EPC officers average the magnitude and pitch of a sound over a 10-minute period.

The new rule raises the decibel limit to 70 decibels, but only during the day and only for ultra-low frequencies, like bass guitars. Low-frequency sounds travel farther and can penetrate glass and thin walls.

Maxwell's explanation did not satisfy some residents who have been bothered over the years by loud concerts at the Ford Amphitheatre. Robin Gordon, a Temple Terrace resident, said she worries that averaging sounds over 10-minute periods will allow spurts of loud music to disrupt the tranquility of her neighborhood.

"I feel like now we have no legal recourse," Gordon said. "I'm no expert, but it seems to me how they are going to average the sound they're going to have a lot more leeway to have loudness."

But Maxwell said, "In almost every case, if it violated the old standard and we took action, then it violates the new standard."

Reporter Mike Salinero can be reached at (813) 259-8303 or msalinero@tampatrib.com.

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