---

City officials are expected to introduce recommendations Monday that will change sound mitigation laws requiring downtown businesses to provide acoustic engineer report or turn off the music.

Eateries and bars in what is known as the Central Business District [CBD] were issued letters of violation on April 11, with another round of letters distributed Wednesday, according to officials.

“Out of respect for the concern over the Mitigation Reports, the CBD Plan amendment related to noise control will be presented at the May 11^th City Council Meeting,” a written news statement released Wednesday evening read. “The City is working to amend many aspects of the CBD Plan, including sound management. Until sound requirements of the Plan can be revisited, the law requires all businesses that play music to complete a Sound Mitigation Report.”

The current laws were created when the proposed redevelopment plans for the third floor Upstage nightclub at 700 Cookman Ave [at right] were approved, officials said. Those plans were not realized and the building, now owned by the Ross brothers, is slated to open as a mixed use ground floor retail space with four homes on the upper floors.

“We can’t just turn a blind eye to it, especially when we were asked to look at all the businesses, to be sure that we were treating everyone equally,” City Manager Michael Capabianco said in the written statement. “But we have to follow the law, it’s the fair and correct thing to do. We agree that it’s a bad regulation, and we have to follow the legal timeline in fixing it, but we’ll fix it.”

Until then, business are being asked to provide the report, at an estimated cost of $1525, or turn off the music.

But changing the law won’t be a simple, overnight process.

According to the city’s Director of Planning and Development Michele Alonso [at right], any changes in the law must adhere to Department of Environmental Protection sound standards.

“We need something to manage the sound levels, but not something as severe as this current ordinance,” Alonso said. “Unchecked noise in the downtown – whether music or general crowd noise – affects other businesses as well as residents.”

The planned amendments will look to manage physical soundproofing measures between certain uses, but not require businesses to complete the full Mitigation Report, according to the statement.

Until the law is changed through City Council approval, the affected businesses must turn of the music or provide officials with the sound mitigation report.

To view the City’s written statement, visit cityofasburypark.com.

—————————————————

Follow the Asbury Park Sun on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

The Asbury Park Sun is affiliated with the triCityNews newspaper.

---