Athens committee weighs expanding noise rules to cover fairgrounds, AR zone events

The Legislative Review Committee on Thursday, Aug. 7, discussed drafting changes to Athens’ noise ordinance to make commercial and special-event sound in agricultural-residential (AR) zones subject to the same restrictions that now apply in single-family residential zoning districts.

The committee — meeting at City Hall — focused on complaints tied to events at the fairgrounds and other AR properties where amplified music has carried into residential neighborhoods. Staff said they will prepare a draft ordinance amendment for the committee to review and asked the attorney’s office to research legal limits on penalties and whether citations should be issued to event promoters, tenants or property owners.

Committee members said the current zoning- and distance-based approach has produced enforcement gaps. Bruce Lonnie, planning staff, reviewed the temporary special-event permit rules at the fairgrounds and described how the zoning code treats such uses: “You can't have more than 2 of those in a calendar year, and you can't have more than 1 of them in a 3 month period,” Lonnie said, and noted that the permit period covers 72 consecutive hours,…