Savannah council poised to tackle trolley sound ordinance in coming weeks after successful workshop
In late March, City Manager Jay Melder pledged to members of the Savannah Downtown Neighborhood Association to propose an ordinance aimed at reducing amplified sound from trolleys. On Thursday, Savannah City Council discussed a few potential elements of a future ordinance, namely the use of directional speakers or in-ear technology to reduce sound.
Melder is now expected to draft an ordinance, which he said could be ready in two to four weeks. Members of council were generally supportive of tackling the issue, which is now moving toward consensus on a solution after collaboration between the city, trolley companies and neighborhood leaders.
The elements discussed Thursday were generally received well by members of city council and are the result of collaboration between the city, industry stakeholders and members of the Downtown Neighborhood Association.
“I think it went very well because the city manager, and the people within the city who are involved in tourism, listened to what the DNA had to say," said DNA board member Marysue McCarthy.
Directional speakers leading as preferred method to reduce amplification
The likely solution will be the directional speakers, which are designed to keep amplification directed inside the trolley. The method has long been preferred by some trolley companies, and Old Town Trolley retrofitted one of its vehicles to pilot the technology.
The speakers have since been tested and demonstrated on three different occasions for officials and neighborhood members, who have said the technology appears to successfully reduce amplification. David McDonald, president of DNA, submitted a quote of support for Melder's presentation to council.
“We had about 20 people join board members to see if the speakers would be viable. The consensus seemed to be that the installation of these speakers significantly reduced the volume of noise coming from inside the trolley,” McDonald said in the quote included in the presentation.
Also workshopped by council was a potential implementation timeline for whichever technology members approve. The idea Melder put before council was to require compliance from 50% of a company's registered fleet within 12 months, and 100% of the registered fleet within 18 months.
The compliance timeline may be one element that is further fleshed out as a draft ordinance moves forward. Charlie Brazil, now COO of Historic Tours of America, which is Old Town Trolley's parent company, said the workshop was "constructive," but added there needs to be more "due diligence" on speaker implementation before committing to timelines.
For one, the speakers Old Town Trolley has piloted are custom made for their vehicles. They also have a price tag of about $10,000 to $12,000.
"I need to do a lot more due diligence, and I think everybody should before we fix ourselves on a particular timeframe," Brazil said.
Evan Lasseter is the city and council government reporter for the Savannah Morning News. You can reach him at ELasseter@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Savannah council poised to tackle trolley sound ordinance in coming weeks
