LOUISVILLE, Ky. — In a place usually reserved for quiet work and reading, community members in the Highlands discussed the noise ordinance on Monday.
The listening session at the Highland-Shelby Park Library was packed as neighbors and musicians aired their grievances about the noise ordinance, with Councilmember Ben Reno-Weber. Reno-Weber listened to voters about changes to the ordinance, as he looks to 2025 to possibly make revisions.
The noise ordinance puts limitations on noise from a distance of 50 feet and giving out a mandatory $2,500 fine without warning.
"[My] problem has been with the vagueness of the ordinance," Mary Vanmeter, a resident and musician in the Highlands, said.
Community members shared their concerns at the listening session, but said they want to strike that balance between respecting neighbors and still providing a space for musicians to perform.
"We're really just trying to understand the different perspectives of the people involved," Reno-Weber said.
The strict zero-tolerance noise ordinance has caused problems in the bar and live music scene of the Highlands.
"Musicians, including ourselves, have been booking shows elsewhere: Indiana, Lexington, Bardstown," Andi, a musician from the Highlands, said in reference to their band, 'Don't Call Me Lady.' "We're taking to it somewhere else because no one's booking anymore because everyone's afraid."
Andi's bandmate, Hollis pointed out the length restriction on noise. They brought fellow musicians with them to the meeting, all who play instruments that can't avoid being heard 50 feet away. These instruments include drum set and other percussion like an accordion, bagpipes and brass.
"We're artists; we make art," said Hollis. "We have put a lot of our years, a lot of our dedication, a lot of our money into creating what we create, and we want to share it with people...if these people cannot express their freedom of expression, with reasonable guidelines of course, if they're not taken into consideration then it's not fair and it's not free."
Even the spokesperson for the Hospitality Association in Louisville, Sean Vandevander, called for a compromise to this problem before it's too late.
"The majority of our investment in this city is based around tourism," said Vandevander. "And if we're going to cut out music, and we're going to behoove bars from conducting business as usual, we're going to kill that industry."
Some of the solutions those at the meeting tossed around included changing the curfew on bands to 10 p.m. on weekdays and an hour later on the weekends, and changing the distance in which the sound can be heard.
The current distance restriction is proving difficult for the historic streets.
"What we currently have is a historically built out area with conflicting uses," said one neighborhood association member at the meeting.
Another resident mentioned the buildings that now house bars, were meant for groceries and hardware stores. Therefore, 30 feet back from a 120-year-old building playing music at 2 a.m., is a person sleeping, that may have to get up early for work or have a kid.
Under consideration was using decibels to measure the restriction. Other cities such as Nashville do this.
"Decibels can be a problem considering there could be a car driving by and the decibels of our music won't register as any louder than the car," said Hollis.
"We can't quantify [decibels] in the Highlands because it's so tightly packed in," said Vandevander. "There's only two lanes."
As the conversation continues on the best delicate balance to the noise in the Highlands, Reno-Weber said he would "love some thoughts around what that might look like."
He said his team doesn't plan on holding another in-person meeting on the issue, but is taking suggestions through the Metro Council website.
There are clear restrictions in the ordinance for vehicles, but they're more difficult to enforce.
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