Cheyenne Young
Make Some Noise: Ordinance effects local business
By Cheyenne Young
The noise ordinance passed on March 25, 2002 by then Mayor David Chiu has impacted local businesses in San Marcos, TX.
While neighboring cities do not have strict noise ordinances, San Marcos has different rules. The noise ordinance prohibits excessive noise between the hours of 10 p.m. to 7 a.m., cutting into prime late-night business hours.
Graph showing the number of calls made to commercial properties vs. residential properties in 2019. Data provided by 2019 San Marcos Police blotter. Graphic made my Cheyenne Young using onlinecharttools.com.
This has led to local venues cutting the noise to their live shows early in the evening, taking away the entertainment that was drawing customers in.
“We have had two events with live music that a neighbor or somebody notified or called the police, and they came and told us that we had to turn it down,” said Arash Saberi, owner of Railyard Bar and Grill, a restaurant in downtown San Marcos with an outdoor patio that hosts trivia nights and live music throughout the week. “It would seem to me if you rent an apartment inside of an entertainment district, you would kind of know what you’re going to get.”
Saberi, who also owns Spinners Bar and Grill in Austin, said he thinks there’s more support for the entertainment industry in Austin than there is in San Marcos.
Saberi said if the noise ordinance’s effective time were moved back, it would benefit his business.
Keeping the ordinance
Not all local businesses share this opinion; some are happy with the ordinance in its current state and don’t wish to see it changed.
“I really enjoy having shows stop at 10:30 because it’s not in competition with other places,” said Eli Zablosky, a manager at Tantra coffee house. “Personally, for us, you have to look at the market overall and have your place, and our place is definitely music 7 to 10:30.”
Zablosky said if the ordinance were moved back, it would benefit the business but they would look into getting a liquor license.
Infographic providing a step-by-step guide for getting a local ordinance changed. Information provided statescape.com. Graphic made by Cheyenne Young using Canva.
Looking at neighboring businesses, Zablosky said a pushback would end up being beneficial for other local businesses and venues.
“I know Aquabrew was having issues when they were doing more music last year because it’s not contained, it’s more open air. I know they were getting in trouble a lot,” Said Zablosky. “I think it would be cool but it depends on who it affects. Railyard is another one, they have that apartment complex right next to it, so they also have to cut off their music super early.”
Booking trouble
A different kind of business that is being affected by the noise ordinance is booking companies for live shows and festivals.
As the ordinance effects only the City of San Marcos, bookers are forced to look outside of city limits to host shows and festivals that can stay loud and keep a crowd later into the night.
“Part of us moving from the house scene to the festival set up is out of necessity because you start getting your house parties shut down. The festivals, where we do them, is all outside of city limits,” said Michael Howard, founder of Apogee Presents, a San Marcos booking agency. “There are ways to work around it but it kind of comes at a set back because for one, in order to throw a late night party past 10 you have to drive super far, which creates its own dangers.”
Pushing late-night shows outside of city limits takes business, customers and revenue away from local venues.
“It's an injustice to local businesses,” said Howard. “During the day, they're pretty dead and they get the majority of their sales at that prime time slot. You’re essentially cutting it at 10 when I’ve thrown shows here that have gotten 200 people here and the majority of people come in the last hour. So imagine if they were there and then they had like two more hours to like drink and chill, their sales are going through the roof. That helps keep local businesses in town, that helps keep people from having to drive super far to have fun late at night.”
Police action
The San Marcos Police Department follows certain guidelines for determining when a noise is exceeding the regulations.
“Businesses fall under a CUP or Conditional Use Permit, and that falls under a different part of the regulatory ordinance and what that one has to do with is a decibel reading,” said Sergeant Sam Myers. “After 10 o’clock it’s a violation if [the sustained noise] goes over 75 decibels. So basically they have to have at least one complete minute of it being over 75 or over 85 decibels on our decibel meter at the property line.”
In 2019, the SMPD received a total of 1,614 calls regarding noise violations in commercial and residential areas combined. Of the 165 calls made regarding commercial areas, the SMPD is seeing more complaints coming in about venues with an open/outdoor arrangement.
“We definitely get more of the residential complaints,” said Myers. “We do get some of the businesses, especially those that have an outdoor venue or maybe one of the rooftop patios. That’s generally where we’re going to have the complaints of businesses.”
Video graphic providing a breakdown of the number of noise compliant calls in 2019. Data provided by 2019 San Marcos Police blotter. Graphic made by Cheyenne Young using Moovly.
When looking at the possibility of a pushback on the noise ordinance, Myers said there would be a long processing period before anything could be changed.
“It’s not impossible but it would have to go through city council to change it. So there would have to be a proposal, there would have to be meetings, there would have to be discussions,” said Myers. “It would take quite a while to address something like that because, again, it’s not just the noise. You’re talking about changing the entire condition of these permit systems.”