Fullerton officials are looking to establish standards officially limiting how loud it can get throughout the day in the college city’s downtown area – home to lively bars, cafes and restaurants, some of which showcase live music.
Noise in the city’s heavily visited downtown area is something city officials have long struggled to address in a zone where a lot of people also live.
It’s also been an issue that some downtown residents have long raised concerns about.
At Tuesday’s 5:30 p.m. city council meeting, council members will consider an ordinance that establishes clear noise limits in downtown and commercial areas based on the sound threshold implemented around Fullerton’s Transportation Center since 2012.
Last month, Mayor Fred Jung requested the proposed ordinance on setting noise standards in Fullerton’s downtown and said that an ordinance will allow outdoor entertainment in the area – something he said isn’t technically currently allowed.
“A broken clock is right twice a day and the government got this right in 2012 – just never got past anything more than a certain zone,” Jung said at the Sept. 16 city council meeting.
The proposed noise limits come months after Fullerton officials ended their outdoor dining program – dubbed Walk on Wilshire and launched during the COVID-19 pandemic – despite pushback from residents and local business owners.
[Read: Fullerton’s Outdoor Dining Program Ends]
Under the Fullerton Transportation Center’s specific plan, sound in urban areas near the train station can not exceed 75 decibels for five minutes within an hour between 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. and can not exceed 80 decibels for one minute within an hour during the same period in a day.
The threshold drops down to 65 decibels and 70 decibels respectively between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. except on Friday and Saturday nights and Saturday and Sunday early morning after midnight where it goes to 75 decibels for five minutes and 80 decibels for 1 minute.
The proposed ordinance would apply the same noise limits for downtown businesses along and around Harbor Boulevard and the city’s commercial zones.
It would also allow outdoor entertainment like live music in downtown between 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. as long as the sound doesn’t exceed 80 decibels at the property line of the business.
According to a city staff presentation at the Sept. 16 meeting, 80 decibels is equivalent to the sound a diesel truck makes going 50 miles per hour from 50 feet away or the sound a food blender makes at three feet away.
Sixty decibels is equivalent to the sound of heavy traffic 300 feet away and normal speech 3 feet away, according to the same presentation.
The sound would be measured at the property line of the business under the proposed rules.
To view the proposed noise limits, click here.
Officials are also looking to ramp up enforcement on noisy bars.
The proposed ordinance would allow the city to revoke certain permits and entitlements if there are repeated noise violations.
If a business receives three citations for violating their entertainment permit conditions in a year they must meet with the police chief to discuss how to remedy the situation.
Further violations could mean losing the permit, according to the proposal.
Businesses could receive up to $500 in fines for violating the proposed ordinance.
Code enforcement and police officers are expected to enforce the rules if they are adopted.
According to their budget, Fullerton has five code enforcement officers, one supervisor and one manager in a city of about 137,000 residents.
One of the code enforcement officers is dedicated to the downtown area.
Hosam Elattar is a Voice of OC reporter. Contact him at helattar@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @ElattarHosam.
