We oppose proposals by City of Davis staff to weaken the city's longstanding noise ordinance.  We urge the City Council to clearly direct staff not to modify the noise ordinance in any way that would diminish or weaken its noise restrictions.  Any proposed changes should be fully reviewed by the Planning Commission and the Climate & Environmental Justice Commission.

Last month, staff attempted to make substantive changes to the noise ordinance through the Consent Calendar.  Staff's proposed substantive changes that would:

• Eliminate all decibel limits in parks, playgrounds, and on school grounds if the city deems the noise to be "ordinary and reasonable";
• Remove all objective noise standards governing dogs, power tools, and neighborhood car repair; and
• Replace clear, measurable decibel limits with vague, subjective standards.

Effectively, in place of consistently applied objective limits - limits that have governed for decades and are used in cities throughout California - the City would be giving a free pass to anyone in parks.  Noise that is regulated elsewhere in the City - pickleball, leaf blowers, whistles, public address systems, amplified music, or loud parties - would be allowed in parks as long as City authority believed that noise was "ordinary and reasonable."  There should not be different standards in different places in the City. 

City staff have a history of proposing double standards.  In May 2021, city staff proposed exempting the City from the entire noise ordinance, and changing all noise measurements to averages over one hour period.  This effort was met with immediate community opposition and pulled from the Council's agenda.  Like in 2021, staff's justifications for weakening the noise ordinance are specious, vague, and unsupported by expert analysis.

Objective standards that apply equally across town promote transparency, fairness, and equal enforcement.  Weakening them creates uncertainty and double standards.  Across California, cities are strengthening - not weakening - noise regulations as research increasingly recognizes noise as a public health concern.  Davis should not move backward.  

We ask the City Council to:

• Preserve objective, measurable decibel limits in the City code;
• Reject noise ordinance exemptions for activities on City property;
• Ensure full public review of any proposed changes; and
• Respect the longstanding policy of Davis to prohibit "unnecessary, excessive and annoying sound levels from all sources" and commit to retaining the existing ordinance.  

Please help protect Davis' commitment to being a quiet, livable community by signing below to urge the City Council to keep our noise ordinance strong.

Sincerely,

Concerned Davis Community Members