TAMPA, Fla. — Tampa city council members voted in favor of new noise regulations at a meeting on Thursday, but business owners from entertainment areas around the city say this could negatively impact their livelihood.
Council members say this new ordinance won’t take effect for six months, so you won’t hear things quieting down quite yet, and plans for change the regulations are already in the works.
After the vote, council immediately passed another motion to have city staff meet with business owners and folks who live near problem areas to put together proposed changes for the ordinance to be reviewed in April.
One man who says the vibrations from the sub-woofers at local establishments keeps him awake at night, spoke at the meeting, telling us, “the woofer keeps going up, you’ll be waking up every time the beat changes.”
But some people say, when it comes to entertainment areas, you just need to accept the nature of where you live.
“Anyone expecting to move there, knows what they’re moving into,” said Belle Amoroso, who spoke at the meeting.
While council is planning to look at suggestions for changes to the ordinance at a workshop on Apr. 28, business leaders say parts of the city differ greatly, and a “one size fits all” solution could be detrimental.
“I think it’s going to need to be modified,” said Victoria Burlarley, who has a family business in Ybor. “This doesn’t need to be applicable all week...we know we’re busiest Friday, Saturday, Sunday.”
Some things that may be changed after that April workshop? Establishing Ybor as an entertainment district — as it is not currently defined that way by the city, as well as giving Tampa Police Department a way to more effectively enforce regulations.
“For the calendar year of 2021, we had 7560 calls for service,” Captain Brett Owen with the Tampa Police Department said at the meeting. “Out of those calls, we only issued 17 citations.”
To find more information about the rules of the ordinance, click here.