El Paso City Council Considers More Restrictive Noise Ordinances

A petition currently making the rounds online says the city wants to make live music harder to come by.

El Paso City Council members want to enact a new set of ordinances that would affect noise levels for area bars, nightclubs, restaurants, etc. One business owner posted on their Facebook page that the new rules are so restrictive, they would virtually eliminate live entertainment throughout the city of El Paso.

The revisions to the existing ordinance include things like lowering the allowable noise levels from 70 decibels to 65, changing the distance to residences covered by law from 350 feet to 500, counting roll-up style doors as well as "open" doors and windows as "outdoor areas" and dropping the number of citations that could result in loss of license from 10 to 2. For some reason, the new rules would not affect any businesses located within the area designated as the "El Paso Downtown Management District". You can read more about that here and you can read all the proposed amendments here.

The petition itself says that pretty much all El Paso bars and restaurants are following current guidelines and are open and willing to address neighborhood noise-related complaints as they arise. The petition also alleges that local entertainment businesses have proposed solutions to noise-related issues but they have been ignored.

Needless to say, this truly could impact these businesses and their employees. As gas prices and other costs continue to rise, people are becoming more selective about where they go as it is. If the quality of their evening out is somehow "lessened" in their eyes, that could make them even more reluctant to visit some places

You can view and/or sign the petition here. City Council will meet to consider the noise ordinance changes tomorrow, June 22nd.

UPDATE: As of today, 6/22/22, this discussion has been postponed until 2023.