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Takoma Park moves to dissolve Noise Control Board; council weighs mediation, staff enforcement and multifamily limits
Summary
After deciding to dissolve its Noise Control Board, Takoma Park staff presented options to use county mediation as a voluntary resource, to shift two‑party complaint adjudication to city staff (with potential code tweaks), and to align multifamily internal noise resolution with landlord/tenant processes; council asked for cost estimates and code language.
The Takoma Park City Council directed staff to prepare code amendments after moving to dissolve the city’s seven‑member Noise Control Board and exploring alternative approaches for handling two‑party noise complaints.
Staff outlined four options: refer residents to Montgomery County’s Conflict Resolution Center for voluntary two‑party mediation; adopt aspects of the county noise process (while noting Takoma Park has opted out of the county ordinance); allocate adjudication of two‑party complaints to city staff (with associated capacity and code‑language changes); and leave multifamily internal‑unit noise to property management and landlord‑tenant remedies. A staff summary said the county process is free and voluntary and could be promoted as a resource for residents.
Council members debated whether to reference mediation in the municipal code (many favored listing it as a public resource but not embedding reliance on county functions into Takoma Park’s ordinance), whether staff and code enforcement have the capacity to take on adjudication of two‑party complaints, and how police should respond to dwelling‑to‑dwelling disturbances. Several members asked staff to return with estimates of additional resources needed and suggested clarifying which body (code enforcement in business hours; police non‑emergency at night) would respond to complaints.
On the multifamily question, staff recommended aligning with the county approach — treating internal unit noise as a management/lease issue, using COLTA and landlord‑tenant processes where appropriate, and reserving police response for major disturbances such as amplified music or safety issues.
Next steps: Staff will draft code changes and provide resource estimates; a tentative work session on code changes is scheduled for Nov. 19 with potential council votes in early December.
