The Johns Creek City Council amended the city’s nuisance ordinance to include fines for “plainly audible” music or other amplified sounds reaching a residential property late at night.
The official noise limit after 11 p.m. is 40 decibels (dBA), but the “plainly audible” standard is meant to simplify enforcement.Forty decibels is roughly equivalent to bird calls.
Fines start at $250 for the first offense, and jump to a minimum of $1,000 for the third violation in a 12-month period.
The change, which was approved on Monday, follows months of disagreement between a restaurant and concert venue called 37 Main and the Medlock Bridge residents who live right behind it.
Since the club opened in 2014, neighbors have filed more than 30 complaints with the Johns Creek Police about the loud music that routinely keeps them awake past midnight.
"The new noise provisions of the Nuisance Ordinance balance the desire by residents to be able to quietly and peacefully enjoy their homes without undue noise disruption of their daily lives," Mayor Mike Bodker said in a statement. "Our community wants our businesses to successfully operate while limiting noise emanating from the inside of their businesses."
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