Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/325356
ordinance, Fournier said it would include a new "plainly audible" standard. A police offi- cer standing between two side-by-side music venues may be able to tell with his own ears which is louder, even if the sound measuring device cannot. And penalties will be stiffer. Final details will be ironed out following the public hearing later this year. City commissioners suggested Fournier take a different tack entirely. Instead of using an ordinance with empirical measurements, per- haps the controls should be linked to land use, specifically zoning and special exceptions. Commissioner Shannon Snyder suggested bar and nightclub operators might be more circumspect if the city had the power to find them in violation of zoning restrictions and shut them down. "This is the downtown core, and it's more about land use and hours," added Commissioner Suzanne Atwell. But according to county resident Jim McWhorter, it is not about land use or hours. It's about sound. He said Sarasota is the loud- est town around. He has been battling Bob's Boathouse on the South Tamiami Trail, and he pointed out that the 75-decibel limit is the highest noise level allowed in the entire nation for residential property. "It has destroyed our quality of life," he said. % A second slide presented Monday to the City Commission compares the City of Sarasota's allowable decibel level in residential areas to those permitted in other south Florida cities. Image courtesy Jim McWhorter Sarasota News Leader June 6, 2014 Page 19