Along with 12 others, Mark Dixon spoke about his discontent with the revisions to the noise ordinance during public comment time Tuesday at Boone's Town Council meeting. Other venue owners, including Char's owner and Boone Saloon's owner, joined Dixon in voicing their opposition. Photo by Kelli Straka | The Appalachian

Appalachian State University students stood in solidarity with downtown business owners against updates to the proposed noise ordinance at Tuesday night’s town council meeting.

“Music is a primary form of art and students enjoy that, and they see the necessity of a more reasonable noise ordinance,” Boone Saloon owner Skip Sinanian said.

Musician and junior sustainable development Alex Golden spoke during the public comment time to share his dissatisfaction with the noise ordinance.

“I’m against it for dozens of reasons,” Golden said. “I feel like it’s a cultural setback and something that will discourage students from coming to ASU. Music is what I do for fun. It’s what I do when I’m not eating, sleeping, or studying.”

Among the new provisions is an 85-decibel cap on weekend live music between 10 a.m. and 2 a.m. After that, the cap would drop to 55 decibels, according to the Watauga Democrat.

Galileo’s owner Mark Dixon said he purchased a decibel meter and found that normal conversation on Galileo’s patio reached about 65 decibels, cars passing by reached 75 and a breeze could reach 85.

“You can’t start a car in the morning because it’s over 55 decibels,” Dixon said.

Senior elementary education major Rachel Goodman said the ordinance takes away part of Boone.

“The music draws people and students to Boone,” she said. “Music is a huge inspiration and if we can’t listen to local live music, we’re losing something important.”

The previous ordinance was difficult for Boone law enforcement to impose, which prompted the initial update for the ordinance, Council Member Lynne Mason said.

Updates attempted to make the ambiguous sections of the ordinance more understandable, including what noise was considered a violation and procedures to deal with violations, Mason said.  

“What we’re trying to do is maintain a peaceful environment for our residential community while having an active and vibrant downtown,” Mason said. “So it’s a real balancing act right now.”  

Junior electronic media broadcasting major Lilia Spangler said she understands why people are upset, but when moving to Boone, the noise shouldn’t be a surprise.

“Not only will it take away from night life, it will also hurt the musicians,” she said.

Boone’s town attorney, Sam Furgiuele, will prepare a draft for the town council to review and hopefully adopt by the end of February, Mason said.

Story and Photo: KELLI STRAKA, Senior News Reporter