Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Safety Noise topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Resident urges council to address loud amplified noise at T-Mobile Park, cites hearing-loss risk
Summary
Joe Cox told the Seattle City Council on April 29 that amplified sound near T-Mobile Park reached levels he said can cause permanent hearing loss and asked the council to intervene; he said enforcement attempts to date had not resolved the issue.
Joe Cox, a member of the public, urged the Seattle City Council on April 29 to address high noise levels outside T-Mobile Park that he said can cause permanent hearing loss.
“I've been trying for over a year to resolve an issue with noise levels at T Mobile Park that are so high they can cause permanent hearing loss,” Cox said during the public comment period. He said he had contacted council members and police captains and that the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections (SDCI) had been raised as a possible enforcement authority but that “nothing has worked.”
Cox cited Occupational Safety and Health Administration guidance and said, “OSHA says that sound levels above 85 decibels can cause permanent hearing loss that cannot be corrected through surgery or with medicine.” He said he recorded people using amplified sound systems at more than 100 decibels while fans stood in line before a recent game with paid attendance of 30,361. “The people in line could not protect themselves,” he said, and asked the council to step in to protect children and families on city sidewalks.
Nut graf: Cox framed his complaint as recurring and unresolved despite outreach to city offices; he asked elected leaders to act because he believed existing responses had not reduced the hazard. The speaker noted multiple contacts with city staff and said this was his third time addressing the council on the issue.
The meeting record shows the matter was raised during public comment; no council action, referral, or staff directive appears in the transcript. The complaint referenced local enforcement roles in SDCI and the police but did not cite a specific municipal code section or a pending enforcement action.
Ending: Cox's remarks closed by asking the council to protect kids and families on city sidewalks; the transcript does not record a council response or an assigned next step.
