Dozens of residents, business owners and arts‑district stakeholders urged the Bradenton City Council on Sept. 24 to change zoning in the Village of the Arts and to restore an earlier noise ordinance, saying current rules are harming small businesses while others told council enforcement is needed.

Multiple speakers — including longtime residents and business operators at Cottonmouth Southern Soul Kitchen, music promoters and Village property owners — asked the council to return to the pre‑2017 sound limits and to rezone large swaths of the Village of the Arts from the current T4R (residential mixed‑use) designation to T4O (urban center/arts‑oriented mixed use). Speakers said the change would clarify permitted uses and support small businesses, artists and cultural tourism.

Cottonmouth owner David Shiplet and nearby resident Preston Whaley traded sharply different accounts. Whaley said he has logged more than 50 complaints about music since June and that monitoring failed to resolve the issue; Shiplet said his operation has taken steps — hiring on‑site monitors, giving neighbors decibel meters and investing in noise suppression — and says a single neighbor is repeatedly calling authorities and seeking to close his business.

Speakers also described actions by the fire marshal and code enforcement. The fire marshal temporarily limited Cottonmouth’s outdoor space after complaints; several speakers said staff inspections in April had passed and that enforcement appeared uneven across nearby venues.

Council members described the dispute as complex. City staff and the city attorney told the council that parts of the controversy are within code enforcement and the special magistrate’s authority, while rezoning and the noise ordinance are legislative matters for council consideration. Council members repeatedly said they did not see evidence of “targeted” enforcement by staff but acknowledged the public’s perception of uneven application.

Council members and staff agreed to schedule a public workshop to review the Village of the Arts zoning map, the 2017 changes to the noise ordinance, and enforcement practices — a step Mayor Brown and council members described as the quickest path to a broader, evidence‑based policy decision. The council asked staff to invite HOA presidents and representatives from the Village of the Arts to the workshop.

No ordinance changes were enacted at the meeting; the council’s next steps are to set a workshop date and collect background material for deliberation.