North Augusta’s noise ordinance is being revised to cover new activities that have grown along the riverfront.
The ordinance was one of the main topics discussed at the city council’s Monday night study session.
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City Attorney Kelly Zier called the current ordinance, which restricts loud music from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m., and use of loudspeakers or amplifiers from 10:30 p.m. to 7 a.m., “very obsolete.”
“The current ordinance was drawn when the city was 95% residential and none of the businesses had outside entertainment,” he said.
All that has changed, particularly with the development of SRP Park and Riverside Village.
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City Administrator Jim Clifford said already this year the GreenJackets have had a few extra inning games, and some games feature a fireworks display.
“We also have a number of venues in Riverside Village that go beyond 10:30 p.m. and we’ve had some complaints about that, but that ends up restricting some of our economic activity in that ‘Live/Work/Play’ zone,’ said Clifford.
GreenJackets Vice President Tom Denlinger said he is in favor of revising the ordinance. He said the park is designed for most sound to stay inside the park, apart from the fireworks.
Denlinger said, “At the end of the day, this is what we like to call a live, work and play ball environment.”
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The North Augusta Department of Public Safety reported 729 calls for noise complaints between January 1, 2019 and December 31, 2020. Two of the three locations with the most complaints were related to two apartment complexes.
Public Information Officer Lt. Tim Thornton said, “We typically respond to loud noise complaints and ask them to turn it down. I don’t recall any habitual loud noise locations where we had to elevate police action to the level of criminal charges.”
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Council decided to revise the ordinance in stages, starting with the Riverside Village and SRP Park area. The administrator and city attorney will draw up a new section that changes the time to midnight on Fridays and Saturdays, a special exemption for athletic events, and a mechanism to grant permits for special events.
The remainder of North Augusta will still be covered by the current ordinance. However, council eventually wants to look at revisions for all areas of the city.
Dana Lynn McIntyre is a Staff Reporter with The Augusta Press. You can reach her at dana@theaugustapress.com.
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