ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — The city of St. Augustine will soon go over a stricter round of rules for how much noise can be made by restaurants, bars, and even cars.
Action News Jax reached out to the St. Augustine Police Department, which city leaders say has been the primary agency looking into the list of possible new rules, but the department wasn’t able to speak with us.
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The city, however, has released the add-ons and changes being considered to the existing noise rules, which include:
- No noise heard by a speaker or other sound-producing device by anyone at least 50 to 100 feet away in residential areas, depending on the day and time
- No noise heard by a speaker or other sound-producing device by anyone at least 100 to 150 away in Historical Preservation Districts 2-5, depending on the day and time
- No noise heard from a personal or commercial vehicle by anyone at least 25 feet away
- No noise heard from a personal or commercial boat by anyone at least 50 feet away
- Loudspeakers not allowed outside of cars or buildings anywhere on the beach
- City code enforcement can relocate sound-producing devices or use soundproofing as an enforcement measure if rules are violated
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The city has gone over other changes to the noise rules at least two other times this year. Action News Jax told you back in April the last time the city was considering changing the rules. Some bars in the downtown area tell us they don’t mind changes to the noise rules, but others are asking why they are being considered.
“I just wish they would figure out what they’re going to do,” said Joe Schauer, a musician who plays live shows in St. Augustine’s bars. “We all want to be good neighbors. That’s it, at the end of the day.”
Schauer tells Action News Jax he’s gone from bar to bar playing music for years and has seen the city work on changing its noise rules many times before. He is not exactly on the same wave this time around, but supports putting more restrictions on sound coming from cars.
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“The person that’s a block over sitting on their porch doesn’t know if that’s me playing music or if it’s a guy on a motorcycle or in a truck. You just hear loud music and they’re mad, so I get it,” Schauer said.
The city is set to discuss the changes to the sound rules during the next meeting of the city commission, which is scheduled for next Monday at 5:00 PM inside City Hall.
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