County to crack down on Siesta Key noise
The noise police are coming, but they won’t be wearing the green uniform of a Sarasota County deputy.
"The sheriff doesn’t deem it practical to enforce our noise ordinance" on Siesta Key, county Commissioner Nora Patterson told her colleagues during their meeting on Tuesday. "I don’t think a citation has ever been issued."
Patterson and her fellow commissioners decided that if the sheriff won’t take action, they’ll ask the county’s code enforcers to do so.
To play live music after 10 p.m., a special exception permit is required from the county. Commissioner Joe Barbetta said he recently took a walk around Siesta Key after that hour. "It’s the noise from establishments that don’t have a special exception," he said. "Several establishments violate it openly. We need to have some teeth."
Barbetta suggested starting with a review of all the existing special exception holders. "I think these all need to be reviewed," he said.
At present the Siesta Key Oyster Bar and the Speakeasy in Siesta Village and Capt. Curt’s at Crescent Beach hold special exceptions to play live music after 10 p.m., according to the discussion.
"We need to have somebody out a couple of nights per week," Patterson said, to check on noise levels. "Who do you call? There has to be some mechanism."
The county’s website’s only mention of a "sound ordinance" indicates any complaint be directed to the Sarasota Sheriff’s Office at 951-5800.
However, a May 21 letter from Sheriff Tom Knight says, "My staff has informed me that between the many special exceptions, the difficulty with the ambient noise measurements and the competing residential and commercial interests, enforcement has been difficult. For many of the above stated reasons the State Attorney’s Office has declined to prosecute these types of cases."
Knight concluded, "Factoring in all the criminal patrol responsibilities and essential law enforcement functions that must be handled by a sheriff’s deputy, it would appear to be more practicable if Sarasota County Code Enforcement was the primary enforcement entity either by way of citation or civil litigation."
One major problem he cited is "ambient noise" that prevents deputies from getting a solid reading on their "noise measurement device." His letter said, "It is not practical to ask that all pedestrians, vehicular and commercial activity ... cease so that a deputy can obtain a sound reading. This has made it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to measure noise without ambient noise influence."
Patterson said she’d arrange a meeting between Knight and code enforcement officials to determine how to enforce the county’s ordinance. Commissioner Shannon Staub ended the discussion by saying, "Let’s do a sweep!"
June 11th 2009 - 7:01AM