Common Fields Asked for Help, City Council has Now Approved a New Noise Ordinance

Quietly approved last week by the Corvallis City Council, a new noise ordinance. But quiet is not how it started. Last September, a downtown business was forced to shutdown a dance event after police received a complaint about the volume of the music.

Worse, the police had been trying to mediate the problem between the business and the neighbor for months – and with the noise ordinances in place at the time, that proved difficult.

The plot thickened when the business, Common Fields, announced they would need to cancel future events if something couldn’t be worked out, and worse, that their business’s viability would be at stake.

Well, Common Fields is a popular business. An online petition was started. And at the earliest possible City Council meeting numerous public comments favoring help for Common Fields were received right along with the petition. The City Council heard the beating drums and temporarily suspended the then current noise ordinance.

Pretty much, everyone agreed the old ordinance was not nearly objective or even measurable enough to be useful. The Council then also tasked the police department with forming a new draft ordinance, which has now been unanimously approved.

The new rules for downtown

So, what are the new rules. For areas downtown where Common Fields is located, the max allowable decibels during the day are now 70 dBA, which is comparable to the noise from a vacuum cleaner or washing machine. At night, the limit is 65 dBA, which is roughly equivalent to a conversation or the sound of traffic. That may not sound workable for an outdoor venue like Common Fields.

But here’s the big change. Corvallis had been measuring sound from where it comes from. The new ordinance measures sound at the nearest RECEIVING property line, and in this instance, in an area zoned for mixed use, that wouldn’t be just any property line, but a residential property line.

Different decibel limits around town

Additional to decibel limits for mixed use zones like downtown, the new ordinance sets limits for residential areas at 65 dBA during days and 60 dBA in the evenings, with respective limits in industrial areas being 10 dBA higher.

For greater decibel levels, event organizers can still apply for one-time amplified sound permits, but the old ordinance’s language received some minor updates, essentially for legal purposes.

Likewise, some of the language concerning noise from speech has been cleaned up to ensure there are no limitations on the content of speech, only the volume.

Enforcement will continue to be complaint based. Sound measurement will now be conducted using an A-weighted scale, slow response setting, and a minimum average period of 60 seconds. We don’t know what any of that means. But Corvallis Police sure sound like they do, and at last month’s work session on this new ordinance they also said the equipment they’ll need can come out of their existing budget.

For all areas of town, the new ordinance defines nighttime limits between the hours of 10 pm and 7 am.

What’s not addressed

At the work session last month, Ward 6 Councilor Alison Bowden asked police staff about enforcing amplified sound ordinances at Oregon State University. According to Corvallis Police, that may not be possible at the moment as the campus has its own police department and rules.

Ward 1 Councilor Jan Napack asked about noise from HVAC compressors and leaf blowers and such. Constituents have become increasingly concerned about these sources of noise. Mayor Charles Maughan indicated that would not be a discussion at present as Council had only requested staff come back with recommendations pursuant to amplified sound.

What does Common Fields’ Owner Say

We asked Common Fields owner Jacob Oliver what he thought about the new ordinance, and he said, “My initial thoughts after reading through the proposal is that this seems very comprehensive and fair and they took some time to really think about the best solution.” Oliver also said he believes measuring decibels at the receiving property line is a more sensible approach and more helpful for the community.

By Hallie Greenberg