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Residents press New Shoreham council to study noise rules after summer complaints
Summary
At a Nov. 4 New Shoreham meeting residents described pervasive music and vibration from summer outdoor entertainment, while police said formal meter readings rarely exceeded corrected decibel limits; council agreed to gather more data and consider a consultant study.
Chief Paul Dean of the New Shoreham Police Department told the council the department logged 52 noise complaints over the summer and that certified meter readings rarely exceeded the ordinance threshold once the local 5‑decibel correction was applied. “There were 52 total; 25 were commercial liquor license holders,” he said, and added that a handful of readings were above 70 decibels before correction but fell below the limit after the adjustment.
Multiple residents described a different experience inside their homes. “Music from the bars and restaurants and wedding venues right now can be heard far and wide,” said a resident who urged the council to “consider reducing the decibel levels” and to review the noise table in the ordinance. Another speaker urged an acoustics study, saying vibration and frequency produce health and sleep disturbances and that “this issue has been going on for years.”
Business owners and licensees pushed back, saying they comply with the ordinance and that a blanket reduction would be infeasible. One proprietor argued that the town’s commercial threshold reflects typical downtown activity and that lowering the standard would “make it harder and harder for businesses out here to do business.”
Councilors heard repeated requests for three concrete next steps: (1) staff to compile comparative decibel standards from nearby coastal towns and deliver a brief memo on whether New Shoreham is an outlier; (2) a data review that matches complaint timestamps and meter readings; and (3) an assessment — via an external acoustics consultant — of whether changes to zoning, hours, speaker orientation or a single consolidated noise zone would reduce impacts on residents without unduly restricting licensed outdoor entertainment.
Council President said the town does not yet have a plan and asked staff and the police chief to assemble the requested information. Several residents offered to share research and examples of mitigation used in other towns. The council did not adopt ordinance text changes at the meeting; members signaled interest in commissioning a targeted study and returning to the item once the town has comparative data and an options memo.
The council’s next procedural step is to direct staff on the scope and budget for any consultant engagement and to return the issue for a future agenda item.
