Spalding County commissioners debate event‑center noise rules, direct staff to rewrite ordinance

Spalding County commissioners on July 21 discussed revisions to the county's event‑center and noise rules and directed staff to rewrite the proposed ordinance to focus on property lines, clearer definitions and quiet hours rather than the one‑size‑fits‑all 100‑foot audible test currently on the draft.

The discussion grew out of a staff draft that would exempt an approved event center from obtaining an amplification permit provided a permanent marker is placed 100 feet from the exterior wall, the marker is documented by a certified land surveyor and the marker's location is registered with Spalding County code enforcement. County Manager David (who presented the draft) said under the proposal "if two law enforcement officers determine that the sound is not audible at the 100 foot marker using unaided human hearing, the event may proceed without interruption. If the sound is audible at the 100 foot marker, the event shall be immediately ended and a citation issued to the event center." The draft also said repeated violations (more than twice within a 12‑month period) would require the center to return to monthly amplification permits.

The board and speakers at the workshop questioned whether measuring audibility at 100 feet from a building is practical for indoor venues, outdoor pavilions and large rural properties. Commissioners and members of the public raised enforcement and fairness concerns: how to measure bass or subwoofer vibrations, how to account for road and truck noise when using decibel meters, whether markers should be on the property line rather than a fixed distance from a building, and whether quiet hours should apply to event centers the same as to residents.

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