Bar owners sound off on noise ordinance

MARBLE FALLS, Texas (KXAN) - Bar owners in Downtown Marble Falls are dealing in both drinks and decibels.

An amended noise ordinance will now require area resident and bars to keep sound below 70 decibels during peak nighttime hours.

That sound level is equivalent to normal street noise.

"I personally, when I am out on the streets I don't hear a lot of noise," said Johnie Borgeson, owner of Mainstreet Icehouse and Cafe in Downtown Marble Falls.

After complaints by some residents, council members voted unanimously this week in favor of the amendment.

The designated quiet times run from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. Sunday through Thursday and midnight to 6 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.

All peak hours for area bars.

"The city council was trying to balance between the needs of the business owners and those people that are enjoying the music and also the residents of our community that go to bed earlier," said City Manager Ralph Hendricks.

The council had the option of making quiet hours 2 a.m. to 6 a.m, which would have benefited bars, but didn't take it.

This left a few bar owners seeing the noise ordinance as nothing more that a setback.

Many owners have been trying to get their hours extended until 2 a.m., but the passing of this ordinance makes that unlikely.

"Once people start drinking they get louder. Once the music starts it gets louder," Borgeson explained.

Johnie said she just hopes when the council is making the call on closing times later this month,
they'll rule in favor of bars and re-evalute quiet time.