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City hires acoustic consultants to study noise and recommend ordinance changes
Summary
The City Commission authorized the city attorney to retain Seebine Associates and partners for a citywide soundscape study, directing staff to pursue pilot monitoring, community sound walks and district-specific recommendations while working within state preemption limits.
The Sarasota City Commission voted unanimously March 23 to authorize the city attorney’s office, in coordination with the city manager, to retain an external acoustic consulting team to study the city’s noise ordinance and recommend changes.
The consultant team, Seebine Associates, told commissioners they would combine quantitative sound monitoring, 3D acoustic modeling and community-led “sound walks” to identify hotspots such as downtown, Newtown, the Sarasota High School area, St. Armands and locations associated with street performers and loud vehicles. Gary Seebine and Keely Seebine described an approach that pairs short- and long-term measurements with stakeholder focus groups and pilot monitoring that can be used to test ordinance adjustments before adoption.
The consultants stressed the multi-tiered nature of solutions: building-code and planning changes to reduce future impacts, operational and administrative tools for venues, and targeted enforcement or education where appropriate. They also cautioned that legal constraints — including recent state preemption laws — can limit some local controls, and recommended working with the city attorney and police department at each step.
Commissioners pressed on cost and timeline. The consultants proposed a pilot scope with an overall range roughly between $175,000 and $250,000 depending on how many study areas and the extent of university partnership work. Commissioners asked for options to pare scope for budget sensitivity and to prioritize quick wins while preserving rigorous, defensible data for any ordinance language. The City Attorney’s Office said staff will work with the consultant to ensure recommendations comply with state law and to produce enforceable metrics where feasible.
The vote authorizes negotiations and contract execution; staff will return with the final scope, budget and a community engagement plan. Commissioners also agreed to create an advisory group to help select stakeholder representatives and review draft recommendations.
