Neighbors press Bonita Springs council to tighten noise rules after repeated complaints about amplified bass from Sugar Shack

Several residents told the City Council that loud, low‑frequency bass from the Sugar Shack venue near Riverside Park is disrupting nearby homes and asked the city to strengthen noise‑enforcement rules.

Andrea Inman delivered a folder of monitoring information and said a sheriff's deputy measured 64.4 dBA at her property and 74.4 dBC (amplified bass) — the latter reported as 3.4 points above a code violation threshold referenced in her packet — and that a citation warning issued to the Sugar Shack was later rescinded. Inman said the city noise ordinance allows recognition of low‑frequency sounds that cause vibration but does not currently permit dBC testing and she urged the council to adopt rules for measuring and limiting low‑frequency bass.

Seija Burgess and Doris Sexton described vibrations felt inside their homes and said the Sugar Shack roof acts as a megaphone directing low frequencies toward adjacent residences. Sexton said the noise aggravates her husband's stage‑4 cancer care and that the bass interferes with sleep and normal activities. Burgess told council she and neighbors have filed numerous complaints and that case numbers appear undercounted because multiple callers can be assigned the same case number.

Council members accepted the residents'packets and asked staff to review the packet materials. Staff and the sheriff's office protocols will determine enforceable measurement approaches; residents urged adopting measurement points closer to the source property and limits on dBC as part of code revisions or enforcement policy.

No formal code change was adopted at the meeting; residents requested staff follow up with options to strengthen low‑frequency enforcement or use plainly audible standards similar to other Florida jurisdictions.