Commission Delays Vote on Anti-Noise Ordinance

Complaining that the proposed county noise ordinance handed to commissioners Jan. 19 was filled with typos and other mistakes, County Commission Al Higginbotham made a motion to continue discussion on an anti-noise ordinance until Feb. 22.

His motion was unanimously approved by commissioners who agreed that the ordinance simply wasn't ready for consideration.

In 2009, State Attorney Mark Ober stopped enforcing the county's noise ordinance following a court decision that ruled the ordinance unconstitutional.

Since then, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office has been bombarded with complaints about noisy concerts, parties and machinery.

Last year, the sheriff's office got 6,079 complaints about excessive noise.

However, a revised ordinance presented to county commissioners Jan. 19 wasn't acceptable, said Higginbotham, who noted the ordinance talked about "preserving the peach" instead of "preserving the peace" and was based on a Lee County ordinance, which has been challenged in court.

"We're not prepared to go forward," said Higginbotham. "We need to sit down and draft an enforceable ordinance."

He suggested the sheriff's office, county attorney's office and the Hillsborough County Environmental Protection get together and come up with a comprehensive ordinance that's enforceable.

"The State Attorney should be able to go to court when necessary to enforce this," he said.

"I agree," said Commissioner Sandy Murman. "Let’s get it right."

She asked staff to also research city of Tampa guidelines for better controlling noise at public and private events.

"Some of these events adversely impact neighborhoods and churches," she said. "We need to address a special events permit without reinventing the wheel."