City Council

City of Salem, Massachusetts “Know Your Rights Under the Open Meeting Law, M.G.L. c. 30A ss. 18-25 and City Ordinance Sections 2-2028 through 2-2033.” The City Council Committee on Ordinances Licenses and Legal Affairs co-posted with the Committee of the Whole____________________________________________________________________________________ met in the Council Chamber on _Thursday September 4, 2025 _____________ at ______6:00_______P.M. for the purpose of discussing the matters(s) listed below. Notice of this meeting was posted on __August 1, 2025__ at ___ 12:23 P.M._ (This meeting is being recorded) ATTENDANCE OLLA – Hapworth (chair), Morsillo, Jerzylo, Varela (Zoom). COW – Prosniewski & Watson-Felt (Zoom). City – Jeremy Fiske, Beth Rennard. ABSENT WERE: OLLA - Cohen. COW – Davis, Stott, Merkl, Harvey. SUBJECT(S) #361 Ordinance to amend Ordinance relative to noise control on Essex St. Pedestrian Mall and Adjacent Streets. Rennard – We met with the police to discuss the noise levels on the busy weekends in October from last year. We found that the ambient noise level is higher than the maximum noise level in the current ordinance. Also, the ordinance is confusing to read so we cleaned it up to make it easier to interpret. During the overnight hours from 8pm to 8am, the noise decibel is not to exceed 68, which would be like a normal conversation level. During the daytime hours, we increase the decibels to 72. In the performance areas like near the big fountain and Old Town Hall, we increased the daytime decibel level to 79. We also added in a catch-all, because sometimes the ambient noise level is at or near the maximum so the official that is checking the levels can allow the decibels to increase to 10 above the ambient noise level and still be compliant. Hapworth – Where is the reading being taken to determine the ambient noise? Rennard – They take the reading 15 feet away from the performer, which is noted in the last sentence of the first paragraph, 226B. Jerzylo – I read in OSHA guidelines that you shouldn’t have it more than 80 decibels for more than 8 hours. We talk about the tourists and street vendors, but we don’t talk about the effect on the residents. Rennard – OSHA is a workplace guideline and the space that we are talking about is a public space, so it is a balancing act. We must allow people to express themselves because it becomes a 1st Amendments issue because the performers need to be able to express themselves. We do still have areas where there is no amplification allowed so we are trying to mitigate it while still allowing people to express themselves. Hapworth – This gives the police the ability to enforce it which it isn’t an enforceable ordinance because the ambient noise was exceeding the maximum noise levels in the current ordinance. We are trying to create an ordinance that is enforceable. Morsillo – I don’t understand the ambient noise. If the performers are allowed to be louder than the ambient noise level, then doesn’t everything around them get louder? Also, why are there going to be higher decibels allowed on Front St. and East India Square? Rennard – Before the police take a decibel reading, they have the performer stop performing to see what the ambient noise level is without the performer. If it is at 70, then they can allow the performer to be as loud as 80, or 10 decibels above the ambient noise level. If they are too loud, then they will work with them to get to a noise level within the required limit. Fiske – We are going to try to draw people off the pedestrian mall. Front St will be closed on the weekends from the end of September through October and there will be performances scheduled in that area so the performers will be spread out more. East India Square and Front St. can be closed off so we can better control the area as opposed to other areas that can’t be closed/controlled as well. Varela – What happens if the ambient noise levels is higher than the state max? Is there a way to lower the ambient noise? Rennard – We will be posting the ordinance and map with a QR code. Most performers want to comply, so this allows the police to deal with those that are in non-compliance. Prosniewski – It is expected and reasonable to be loud downtown during this time. There are a few performers that try to take advantage. Most of the complaints come from the performers that have amplification like the preachers. It is difficult to enforce with the current ordinance so having this ordinance will help. Occasionally there is a citation but most of the performers comply. A lot of it comes down to whether it is reasonable or not. Morsillo – What is the maximum that this can go? Rennard – if the ambient noise is higher than what is in the ordinance, then at the police’s discretion, the performer can go 10 decibels higher, but I don’t know what the highest levels have been in the past, I can check on it. Fiske – A lot of it last year was amplification. Spreading out the performers should help. Morsillo – How many complaints do we get from the residents and from the performers? Rennard – Probably about every day for the week leading up Halloween from residents. Hapworth – We are trying to fix the ordinance so that it can be enforced. Prosniewski – I don’t know that we have gotten complaint regarding the ambient noise and if we did, I don’t know how you could control that. The ambient noise level is directly related to how loud the street performers get especially with amplification. Hapworth – If there was a bucket drummer playing outside today, he would be violating the noise ordinance, but if it was October 20th, and he was playing and we could hear it 3 blocks away, then this ordinance would allow the police to cite him if he refused to comply. Watson-Felt – I am concerned that there is no cap on the noise level if the ambient noise is louder than the ordinance allows. I also have a problem with the duration because a sustained amount of sound over time affects people, and a lot of people are working from home right now. My other concern is the location of the performers. If they are too close together then the volume could be even louder if there are more than one competing to be heard. Did you consider time, place and manner while revising the ordinance? The street performers should be given designated locations to play instead of letting them self-regulate. Rennard – The hours are in the ordinance. There are regulations for the street performers that have distance requirements. Jeremy and Sgt. Ball will be relocating the performers if they are too close together. Since we are closing Front St. this year and scheduling some of the performers time slots there, we will see how that goes and maybe we could do more of that in the future but if we were to do that on the pedestrian walkway, then we would need a raised stage maybe near the fountain. Morsillo – Are the performers that are going to be in the performance zones the regulars or are we going to expand it to school groups? How are you going to manage the sign-ups and how is the word getting out? Fiske – John at Creative Collective is handling the signups. Morsillo – What about the time duration limitations? Can you tell folks that they can be in a specific spot for an hour and then they have to go a new one? Rennard - It’s like the anti-loitering laws they have been found to be unconstitutional. I haven’t found a way to do that yet. Jerzylo – Do we have to start it at 8am or can we start it at 10am? Hapworth – So anywhere it says 8am, we will change it to 10am. Jerzylo – Motion to amend to change 8am to 10am in sections 1-3 and seconded by Morsillo. Motion carries 4-0. Morsillo – Motion to refer this to the full council as amended with a positive recommendation and seconded by Jerzylo. Motion carries 4-0. On the motion of C. Morsillo meeting adjourned at 6:43P.M. ________________________________________________________ (Chairperson)