Lucca Beer Garden wanted Benicia to try a temporary change to the noise ordinance. The Benicia City Council voted to alter the noise ordinance for the downtown area but not exactly the way the bar and restaurant desired.
Originally, the First Street beer garden petitioned the council to change the noise ordinance so the business could play more live and recorded music. The bar and restaurant has been trying trying to do this since it began operating in the city. The petition as it was submitted proposed Lucca Beer Garden could play music on Thursdays ending at 9 p.m, Friday and Saturday evenings ending at 10 p.m, Sundays from 2 to 6 p.m. for non-amplified music, and Monday, July 3 and holidays until 9 p.m. from July 1 to July 30, 2017.
The City Council discussed this matter at its meeting on Tuesday. Councilmembers went over what Lucca Beer Garden was proposing before opening up the floor for public comments. The speakers seemingly had a near split on the ordinance. Some were evidently opposed to the change, saying the heightened noise would be a hamper to the quality of life downtown, while others voiced their opinions that the alteration to the noise ordinance could be an economic boost to the community.
Leah Shellhorn, the owner of Studio 41 on First Street, voiced her support to the ordinance change.
“The mission for all of us is to maintain the downtown as a commercial district,” She said .”The arts brings people down, music brings people down. Measure twice, cut once, let’s try again. Let Lucca’s go forward in a trial period.”
Joshua O’Kennedy, who lives several feet away from the restaurant, was in opposition to the petition. “Whether my windows are open or closed, that sound’s coming in,” O’Kennedy said. “I don’t want to hear it all the time. I love music. I love outdoor music. Can’t for the life of me figure out why it needs to be so loud and to the point of can we do it more frequently and extend the duration of operations.”
Jan Lucca, the owner of Lucca Beer Garden, declined to speak at the beginning of the public comment section of the meeting, but decided to speak at the end so they could address any concerns that came up.
“We have people here that don’t hear the music,” he said. “They hear the swimming pool and the gymnasium, the city park. I grew up half a block off First Street when there was a bar in every corner and between. I lived by the baseball field, the swimming pool and everything else; we survived.”
“I guess the question comes down to me, is do we want to have a First Street that has entertainment, restaurants, music, bars, shops or do we want a First Street that has a community garden in the big corner that has some guy growing pumpkins on an empty lot?” he asked,
The City Council discussed the issue further, then voted on the petition. Councilmember Alan Schwartzman rescued himself from the vote due to the fact he owns a business within 500 feet of the restaurant’s radius.
The petition passed 3-0– Councilmember Tom Campbell was absent–but with a resolution added to it: the business can not play music louder than 70 decibels, and no amplified music is allowed on Sundays. There will also be enforceable penalties if any validations against resolution occur.
The next council meeting will be held at 6 p.m., Tuesday, June 27.
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70db ??!?! that’s about as loud as your dishwasher so that can’t be right. Of course when measuring loudness, distance from the sound source must be specified, so maybe they mean 70db as measured from city hall?
Absolutely correct, Gordon, Without specifying the distance the dBA level is meaningless. Normal conversation is 65 dBA at three Feet, Normal traffic is 70dBA at 65 Feet.
I suspect that this omission will be corrected. But 70 dBA is too low.
This issue has more questions than answers. Noise measured from where? With what device? Is the operator trained/certified? As the mayor stated, phone apps are not reliable measuring devices. A resident may experience brief periods of high db noise, such as emergency vehicles, public works equipment, tree shredders, flights to/from TAFB, and the monthly siren tests. Great that Shellhorn reaffirmed the mission of First Street commercial activity, and support for Lucca Bros.
This is going to the difficult to enforce anyway. By the time the certified device gets to the complaining site, the song will be over. The final ordinance should include a provision that allows amplified music threshold of (x) to be exceeded for a period not to exceed the duration of the emergency siren, and that the threshold can be exceeded not more than (x) times per day.
I also like the denial of amplified music on Sunday. 70db is 70db, regardless of whether it is amplified or not.
Good point John. But if it is 70 dBA, it probably is not amplified. 😉
My follow up question is where is the 70 db measured? What is 70 db at the stage is not 70 db at a home a few doors down the street.
Living in a downtown area where there will be noise distractions is wonderful. A very full of life experience. I have lived on Union Street in San Francisco and in Fells Point in Baltimore. We loved it. Very exciting and full of life. Always something going on. Noise was never a distraction. Not all folks can live in an atmosphere like that. Best to make sure it is for you. Trying to change something to suit your own personal issues is not good for everyone else. if you choose to live downtown you must remember there are many quite places to go. Try the Library just for one. But there are many others also . I full support the Lucca outdoor music. Looks like the Mayor did not support her fiend from Lucca’s. Very strange.
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I agree. Living on or near First street is expensive, so thise living in the area are doing so by choice, not necessity, and it should be relatively clear by its structure that it’s meant to be a social, active area. If one wanted to reside somewhere where they would be away from social noise, there are a multitude of other locations to have chosen in the city. If business is stifled through the First Street area, all it serves to do is weaken small businesses and give people more reasons to give their money and attention to the numerous other fun locations throughout the Bay Area.
It does appear the Mayor and her councilmember partner Steve Young are trying to curtail business on First Street. Which means growth and sales tax. My advise is to get educated on who brings in the sales tax. It is not unexciting places. Mayor Patterson/Councilmember Young what happens when we have the Farmers Market, no more music or street players? What happens when we have the Waterfront Festival? No more band stand? You two need to explain what your idea of an exciting First Street. is. Yes we have wonderful individual stores but we could use more. I did notice one of the owners of a very fine First Street store supported Lucca’s. No more a very successful Car Show. Cannot have that. Loud and noisy. My advise is to use the Mayors street where she lives as the exit route. I guess the Fire Department is now going to have to move. Mayor Patterson and Councilmember Young get with the program. Five complaints is not the issue. You two are. You will drive business’ away and also out with your personal agenda driven ideals.
One thing we learned when the General Plan was updated 20 years ago was that some individuals (one in 10 or 20 as I recall) are much more sensitive to “noise” than the average person. I’d have to check, but the current figure of 70dB (if that is the correct figure) probably is specified to be at the property line or some specific distance therefrom. In any case, the overwhelming percentages of people who responded to our community survey 2 decades ago wanted a vibrant downtown. I don’t know how we can do that if noise restrictions are unreasonable, even if they’re actually enforceable.
You cannot.