Agoura Hills council directs staff to prepare revocation resolution for New Era Performance after years of noise complaints

The Agoura Hills City Council on Wednesday directed staff to prepare a resolution revoking business license No. 006982 for New Era Performance and Tuning LLC after an evidentiary hearing in which a city-hired acoustical consultant testified that dynamometer ("dyno") runs at the shop repeatedly exceeded the city's daytime noise limit.

Council members unanimously approved a motion to have the city attorney draft findings and a revocation resolution and place the item on the Feb. 12 consent calendar for final action.

The hearing, held during the council's regular meeting, included testimony from the city's acoustical consultant, Robert Wu of Acoustics Group Inc., who described a series of short- and long-term noise measurements taken near the business on Dorothy Drive. Wu testified that investigators identified at least 15 dyno test events, many of which produced LEQ (energy-average) and Lmax readings above the city's standard of 65 A-weighted decibels (dBA) for commercial districts during daytime hours.

City prosecutor Eric Marcus told the council the results, together with decades of complaints and city letters to the business owner, constituted prima facie evidence the operation was creating a public nuisance under Agoura Hills Municipal Code Section 1,200 and that the code authorizes revocation of a license where a business operation poses an immediate threat or menace to public health or safety (Municipal Code —7819[b][6],[7]). Marcus said the city had offered the business an opportunity to demonstrate compliance but that mitigation had not corrected the disturbance.

Business owner Alexander Esparza disputed some aspects of the record and produced photographs, time-stamped ring-camera stills and a paid receipt showing he had installed an insulated roll-up door to reduce noise. Esparza and supporters argued some earlier noise measurements were taken when his shop was closed and pointed to other neighborhood noise sources, including freeway traffic and passing vehicles. Nearby business owners and tenants, and multiple residents and commercial tenants, told the council the dyno-related noise has disrupted operations, interrupted recordings and caused headaches and anxiety.

Mayor Pro Tem Wolf moved and Councilmember Anderson seconded a motion directing staff and the city attorney to prepare a revocation resolution with findings drawn from the hearing record and return it to the council at the Feb. 12 meeting; the motion passed on a 5-0 roll call.

Councilmembers discussed alternatives including conditioning or limiting dyno operation to particular days or hours, but members expressed concern about enforcement and whether time-limited conditions would meaningfully protect nearby businesses and residents. Several councilmembers said the evidence showed code exceedances and significant community disruption; others said revocation is a severe remedy and should be used only if no workable mitigation remains.

The council did not adopt a revocation resolution immediately. Instead the body directed staff to draft a resolution that summarizes the factual findings from the record and to return that draft at the Feb. 12 meeting for adoption; staff said the resolution could state an effective date at the council's discretion.

The council's direction does not by itself revoke the license; a formal resolution adopting findings and ordering revocation will be presented for final vote in February.

New Era Performance is located at 28236 Dorothy Drive, Building C. The city prosecutor and the acoustical expert said measurements and recorded audio files distinguish dyno events from other neighborhood noise sources; the business owner objected to the city presenting some WAV files that he said he received only minutes before the hearing and requested those be excluded from evidence. The council allowed testimony from the acoustical consultant and the hearing proceeded with the expert's report admitted.