Airplanes landing at Gainesville Regional Airport, Gator fans cheering at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium and residents sleeping in downtown condos share something.
All three areas are governed by the same city noise ordinance.
Because the often loud and lively downtown area is held to the same noise standards as a quiet residential neighborhood, some local business owners said the ordinance could be stifling the growth of downtown Gainesville.
The owners of Boca Fiesta restaurant, located at 232 SE First St., have been communicating with the City Commission about the indiscriminate ordinance. The restaurant received a noise citation from the Gainesville Police Department on Aug. 15.
“We’ve been at that location for a little over four years, and in that time, we’ve had hundreds of events,” said Boca Fiesta co-owner Warren Oakes.
Although it wasn’t the first, Oakes said, citations have been few and far between.
The restaurant hosts concerts and dance parties in the courtyard it shares with the Palomino Pool Hall, and these have occasionally garnered complaints, which have become more frequent recently.
“Something has changed, and it’s not us,” Oakes said.
The rise in noise complaints may be a negative consequence to a positive change — more people living in downtown, said District 2 City Commissioner Todd Chase.
“As downtown continues to evolve, and we have more residents down there mixed in with businesses, we are going to have to look at our different ordinances that affect both and try to find a balance,” he said.
Oakes said he and the other owners of Boca Fiesta are certainly not trying to limit the right of downtown residents to get a good night’s sleep.
“We live here; we work here; we’re neighbors,” Oakes said. “Really, we just want to have a dialogue about the kind of city that we want to live and work in.”
A version of this story ran on page 4 on 8/22/2013 under the headline "Citywide noise ordinance causing friction downtown"
People are seen eating at Boca Fiesta on Wednesday night.
