A draft ordinance that aims to add more teeth to noise violation enforcement will soon hit the Board of Supervisors' table 

Loud open-air celebrations in the residential agricultural areas of San Luis Obispo County could face stricter penalties for disturbing neighbors' peace.

"We're in a very precarious situation here because the county code was so vague," said Bruce Wagner, a resident of unincorporated Arroyo Grande. "It didn't even address loud noises other than commercial events and commercial operations. So the county code didn't help us at all as far as noise goes."

Wagner and his neighbors, Donna and Ed Turner, live near the Cypress Ridge Golf Course. Roughly three years ago, the Turners noticed an increase in noisy parties from one of their neighboring properties after ownership switched hands. Repeated annoyances provoked Donna to document the number of times the couple contacted the Sheriff's Office to take care of the problem.

"I have a file folder full of sheriff's logs," she said. "Every time I would call the Sheriff's Office, the next day I would print the logs so that I have a record of it. ... I would have a sleepless night with all the party noise, and the next day my first inclination was not to run and print the logs, ... but it was definitely an interruption and a disturbance."

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• File Photo By Steve E. Miller
• MORE TOOLS NEEDED Through discussions with SLO County Sheriff Ian Parkinson, 4th District Supervisor Jimmy Paulding learned it's difficult for sheriff's deputies to issue noise violation citations because of California Penal Code 415, which requires them to prove that the culprit disturbed the peace maliciously.

Contacting the county Department of Planning and Building's code enforcement division resulted in "dead silent" interactions, Wagner said, despite sending inquiries through the website. It was only after finally talking to the Sheriff's Office that they learned that law enforcement's hands are tied when it comes to issuing citations against noisy culprits.

The current county ordinance uses specific decibel ratings to measure excessive noise levels. The maximum allowed decibel level for "exterior noise" from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. is 70 decibels—a volume equivalent to an active vacuum cleaner, according to noise control systems provider IAC Acoustics. From 10 p.m. to 7 a.m., outdoor noise in unincorporated SLO County can't exceed 65 decibels.

Sheriff's Office spokesperson Tony Cipolla said that the department doesn't possess the necessary equipment to measure sound levels and it doesn't train deputies to do so. The county's land use ordinance, Title 22, also requires sound to be measured this way, but the code enforcement division doesn't have tools or training either, Cipolla added.

"And even if they did, they typically work business hours and don't really have the ability to respond to ... loud party calls late at night," he said via email.

Once equipped with the necessary devices, officials can measure the outdoor noise level on the affected land by placing the microphone 5 feet above the ground and away from reflective surfaces, the ordinance reads.

Opaque state laws also prevent sheriff's deputies from enforcing the code and issuing citations.

"The penal code section [415] is difficult to enforce because there has to be a victim, and even when there is a victim, it has to be specifically proven the suspect willfully and maliciously meant to disturb that person's peace," Cipolla said. "That can be very difficult to prove for most excessive noise calls, or if the suspect can't be contacted. And prosecution by the DA's Office may be difficult as well."

The lack of action prompted Wagner and the Turners to ultimately turn to 4th District Supervisor Jimmy Paulding and his legislative aide James Sofranko three months ago. Paulding said that several other South County residents also approached him about the same issue.

Talks with 4th District community members, code enforcement officials, and Sheriff Ian Parkinson resulted in a draft ordinance that would specifically prohibit unreasonable noise past 10 p.m. without the appropriate permit. The Board of Supervisors will decide if it wants to adopt the new rule at a public hearing on April 9.

"I believe in conversations that I've had with code enforcement and the Sheriff's Office that they do have these similar issues throughout the county and in other districts," Paulding said. "This ordinance really just gives law enforcement the ability to make a citation that will hold up in court."

Some constituents would like to see modifications to the draft ordinance. A Nipomo resident, who requested anonymity because of safety concerns, said that he'd like to see a reduced level of noise throughout the day rather than the prohibition kicking in at 10 p.m.

"By 10 p.m., my day's already ruined," he said. "We're talking mostly just about amplified music outdoors. I know people have to do work on their property [with] machines, that's not a problem. But the loud amplified music, sometimes, it just goes on all day long, and it's very annoying."

Last spring, he said, his relatively new neighbor of five years threw a large two-day party on a 5-acre property that came with close to 100 cars, 12 outhouses, seven food service tents, and a live band that played music throughout the day. The Nipomo resident contacted code enforcement about the noise and claimed that the neighbor was probably charging admission for the celebration, making the gathering illegal.

"[Code enforcement] did a 10-minute internet search or whatever it was and couldn't find any evidence that they had advertised it so there's nothing they can do about it," he said.

Paulding said that looking into excessive daytime noise is something he's interested in, even though the process is subjective and involves measuring decibel levels.

"The issue I've been mainly made aware of, and that I'm responding to, is really trying to empower law enforcement to issue citations for noise violations that are occurring repeatedly, at the same location, over and over again, after 10 p.m.," Paulding said.

From 10 p.m., the draft ordinance would ban loud music, shouting, hooting, singing, and whistling, among other sounds that can be clearly heard from 100 feet of that property's line. Sounds emanating from religious services and public holidays are exempt from the ordinance, along with commercial agricultural operations and outdoor entertainment events on commercial and private properties that come with valid land use permits or outdoor commercial entertainment licenses.

Angela Edwards Thompson, the manager of the Edwards Barn in Nipomo, said that the ordinance wouldn't apply to her business if the supervisors greenlight it. It already has a county-issued 20-year occupancy permit (or a land use permit) for the Edwards Barn to host weddings, and those events stop at 9:30 p.m. with all amplified sound moved inside the building.

"We're a lot more strict than what they allow because we do have neighbors and they have families too," she said.

Applying for the permit was expensive for the Edwards Barn. Along with the application fee, its owners had to pay to retrofit the building for earthquakes, install handicapped bathroom and parking spaces, and set up a fire sprinkler and fire suppression line. The entire process cost approximately $100,000.

Thompson believes that it's events on private properties that cause noise disruptions rather than businesses, especially the barn's neighboring residences and a few homes behind it.

"There are people flying under the radar for doing events at their home, and they don't even have occupancy permits to do that," she said. "We've shut down, and they're still going. By the time the neighbors call law enforcement, all they do is tell them to turn it off." Δ

Reach Staff Writer Bulbul Rajagopal at [email protected].