Noisy neighbors can be cited more easily now as SLO County board updates ordinance

Music and shouting emanating from loud, late-night parties often shake the walls of Donna Turner’s Cypress Ridge home — and she’s tired of it.

“The noise disturbances we experience make it necessary for us to wear earplugs while inside our home. Sleep is impossible,” Turner said at Tuesday’s San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors meeting. “We just can’t relax in our home.”

When she contacted the Sheriff’s Office to report her neighbor’s noise violations, deputies explained that their hands were tied: they couldn’t issue citations without proving the neighbor intended to disturb the peace.

Rose Kaye, who lives in the Galaxy Park neighborhood in Nipomo, also reported challenges with loud neighbors.

“The main causes of the noise are frequent parties with loud music, fights, shouting, revving up engines, fireworks,” Kaye said at the board meeting. “The noise permeates the walls and the windows, the doors — everything has to be shut. You can still feel the walls just vibrating from all the noise.”

She urged the county to create a new enforcement process for the noise ordinance.

“The noise in our neighborhood has gotten out of hand. These people know they can get away with it,” Kaye said. “We need help. We need to be able to live our lives in peace.”

On Tuesday, the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors stepped in to do just that, voting unanimously to amend the county’s noise ordinance and create a new enforcement process for noise violations. The new rules apply to residents in the county’s unincorporated areas.

Now, the Sheriff’s Office and code enforcement officers can issue citations without proving that offenders intended to disturb the peace. The county also has the ability to fine property owners who have recurring noise violations.

“I don’t see this as unduly burdensome to private property rights,” Supervisor Jimmy Paulding said. “This is really giving people peace and quiet after 10 p.m. and having a set of standards that empower law enforcement and code enforcement to do their job.”

Supervisors approve new enforcement process

In order to issue citations, the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office or the County Department of Planning and Building’s code enforcement team previously had to prove that the offender had malicious intent and willfully disturbed the peace of their neighbors, according to county code enforcement supervisor Cynthia Alm.

This made the ordinance difficult to enforce, she said.

After receiving complaints from a group of South County residents, Paulding worked with the Sheriff’s Office, Planning and Building Department and County Counsel’s Office to update the ordinance and create a more effective code enforcement process.

The new ordinance prohibits “any loud or unreasonable noise” between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. that can be heard within 100 feet of the property, Alm said.

Commercial agriculture, religious services and state and federal holidays are exempt from the ordinance, according to Alm. Properties with certain county-issued permits also are exempt.

The code enforcement process starts with a verbal warning from a sheriff’s deputy, according to Sheriff’s Office Cmdr. Stuart MacDonald.

“We’re not looking be the fun police,” MacDonald said. “We like parties. We just like them to be quiet.”

Then, the deputy will issue a noise violation citation to the offender, whether or not they are the property owner, tenants or guests. If the noise-maker doesn’t own the property, the citation can also be mailed to the property owner to warn them that future violations may come with administrative fines and penalties.

According to assistant county counsel Jon Ansolabehere, those violating the noise ordinance are the “primary target” of a citation.

If the property continues to receive noise violations, the county has the ability to fine the property owner.

Administrative fines start at $100 for the first violation and increase for repeat violations.

“This is really a tool that we needed in order to go for the problem properties,” Ansolabehere said. “They’re the ones that we know the Sheriff’s Office gets repeated calls for on the weekends and at nights.”

MacDonald said the new enforcement process will improve the county’s ability to address recurring noise violations.

“Not only can we hold the noise maker accountable, but we can also work with County Planning Code Enforcement to address the underlying behavior of the homeowner hosting those parties without making sure that their guests are respecting their neighbors,” MacDonald said.