People hold up signs supporting a new noise ordinance after a speaker requested the show of hands Tuesday during a meeting to discuss a new noise ordinance that would be used to guide noise from downtown businesses.
Assistant City Attorney Keith Reisman, right, and City Attorney Wade Hinton laugh Tuesday during a meeting to discuss a new noise ordinance that would be used to guide noise from downtown businesses.
Chattanooga City Council plan to allow higher noise limits in certain parts of downtown.A swelling crowd Tuesday night supported a move at the Chattanooga City Council in support of revamping the city’s sound ordinance to breathe new life into the music and entertainment options downtown.
But after the signs and support at a public hearing were gone, one business owner stepped to the podium to argue the city’s policy will amount to picking winners and losers.
By creating an entertainment area some venues but not others could crank up their music to 80 decibels to the edge of their property, the city could be in danger of hurting small businesses, said Alison Morris, who owns The Church on Main with her husband. Their business on Rossville Avenue is barely outside the area defined in the ordinance.
“I want to know what venues were part of the decision-making process,” Morris said.
The ordinance would allow venues with permits to play at decibel levels of 80 and bass levels of 95 until midnight on weekends and 11 p.m. on weekdays. The roughly 2-mile area starts at Hair of the Dog at Fourth and Market streets and extends to the edge of a residential area on Main Street, including Track 29.