Government
BY ERIC WEILBACHER
While attempting to clear up overlapping guide- lines on outdoor music, New Braunfels City Council found itself at an impasse Feb. 12. This was part of a monthslong effort to provide clarity to conflicting ordinances that have con- fused developers and residents alike after a noise ordinance was added to the city code in 2015. How we got here New Braunfels has many music venues, including some that are outdoors, and the addition of new outdoor venues and regulating their proximity to residential areas has been tried through different means, said Christopher Looney, planning and development services director for the city, to Community Impact . Music and noise in general is currently regulated through both the city’s zoning ordinance and a separate noise ordinance. Overlapping noise rules fail revision
Noise rules
Two overlapping ordinances deal with music and noise locally. One concerning outdoor speaker proximity to neighborhoods, the other just volumes within 100 feet of homes.
What it does
Why it matters
This update to the zoning ordinance addresses music and noise, prohibiting businesses with outdoor speakers from being adjacent to residential areas. Requires any music or noise within 100 feet of residential zoning to be no more than 85 decibels between 10 a.m.-10 p.m.
Zoning ordinance development standards (2012)
The term "adjacent" in the ordinance is relative and open to interpretation.
The “adjacent” distance within the zoning ordinance has been interpreted in the past as much farther than 100 feet.
Noise ordinance (2015)
SOURCE: CITY OF NEW BRAUNFELS/COMMUNITY IMPACT
“We have these two little sections of code that are in the zoning ordinance ... that are related to whether or not someone can have outdoor music if they are next to residential uses,” Looney said. “A few years later, the city adopted a completely separate noise ordinance, which is intended to address noise beyond music, as well.” Looney said it came up in conversation recently because the overlap in rules has caused confusion both for developers and residents.
The takeaway Council was presented with a few different ways of addressing the issue, such as deleting the sections on noise in the zoning ordinance. “I’d hate to bump this down the road again,” Mayor Neal Linnartz said. Ultimately, council could not agree to either amending the zoning ordinance language or dropping noise regulations from zoning, which may prevent more outdoor music venues from opening.
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