Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/84916
A CHANCE TO SOUND OFF Noise complaints have been common in Siesta Village over the years, with residents living close to the popular bars and restaurants. Photo by Norman Schimmel SARASOTA COUNTY WILL REVISIT ITS MUCH-HATED NOISE ORDINANCE IN THE COMING YEAR By Cooper Levey-Baker Associate Editor The Sarasota County Commission voted Tues- day, Sept. 25, to give staff a year to re-examine the county's air and sound pollution rules, as well as one bit of red tape that has long aggra- vated local music fans: the Noise Ordinance. Thanks to the board's action, the county will begin hosting neighborhood meetings, likely after the first of the year, says Assistant Zon- ing Administrator Donna Thompson. "We cer- tainly want to have an opportunity to review those regulations and make necessary chang- es," she says. The noise issue has become especially con- tentious on Siesta Key and in Gulf Gate, two of the county's most raucous nightlife spots. Thompson says commissioners have heard complaints from numerous residents who object to late-night hustle-and-bustle in those areas, and that local business owners are frus- trated. The regulations have also become an object of scorn among music lovers and young folks, who see them as part of a crippling web of rules that suffocate nightlife. When organiz- ers of a local music compilation asked fans to suggest a name for their project back in 2010, many suggested "Noise Ordinance." The name stuck, at least partly because of the widespread antipathy toward the rules. The