Livingston Parish committee agrees to rewrite noise ordinance after residents report loud neighbor

Councilman John Mangus opened the Livingston Parish Ordinance Committee meeting on Tuesday to hear complaints from residents who say the parish’s current noise ordinance leaves them unprotected from loud neighbors.

Mangus said the issue was brought to him by Chester and Tony Wiles, who told the committee a neighbor has played music loudly enough that Chester Wiles can hear it “in my living room” and that deputies have declined enforcement because the parish ordinance requires a decibel reading. "I asked him, would you mind turning your music down? And he told me to go f yourself," Chester Wiles said.

The committee heard from Chad McGovern, Livingston Parish sheriff, who said the current ordinance’s emphasis on decibel readings hampers enforcement. "The biggest issue that we have with this ordinance the way it's written is that it's only a decimal reading," McGovern said, adding that bass frequencies often do not register on standard decibel meters and that officers face procedural requirements when taking readings.

Residents described recurring calls to the sheriff’s office and health impacts. Tony Wiles said deputies have been responsive but sometimes their hands are "very tied," and both residents described sleep disturbance and migraine escalation tied to nighttime music. The Wileses said the neighbor’s speakers face their house and that loud music runs as late as 10 p.m.; Chester Wiles estimated the neighbor’s house is about 100 yards away, while McGovern later described a similar case at roughly 300 feet.

Committee members and staff discussed language modeled on a Tangipahoa Parish ordinance and on the state disturbing-the-peace standard rather than a strict decibel threshold. The committee reviewed one existing provision (listed in the current code as exception f) that exempts normal business activity between 5 a.m. and 10 p.m., and members said any rewrite should retain carve-outs for permitted public or commercial events.

No formal vote was taken. Committee members instructed staff and legal counsel to draft a revised ordinance that would: restore private residences to the list of entities covered by the noise code (a change noted as removed by Ordinance 20-24), remove or reduce reliance on a sole decibel-reading enforcement standard, consider a distance-based trigger (examples discussed included 100 feet or hearing inside the dwelling), and clarify permitted exceptions and enforcement hours. Committee staff estimated the rewrite would span multiple code sections and amount to several pages of amendments.

The committee scheduled a follow-up ordinance committee meeting for Feb. 25 at 5:30 p.m. to continue drafting and discussion. Committee members said the rewrite will be reviewed with the parish attorney before being presented to the full council.