Businesses will be required to move their speakers away from doors and windows -- or shut them altogether
New rules of engagement in the decades-old French Quarter noise wars were laid down Wednesday as the New Orleans City Council unanimously approved the so-called "loudspeaker ordinance" requiring businesses in the historic neighborhood and the Central Business District to move their speakers away from doors and windows -- or shut them altogether.
Councilwoman Kristin Gisleson Palmer, who during the past month has shepherded the measure through a sometimes-contentious legislative process, heralded the move as a way to turn down the volume on proprietors who lure customers by blaring "tin noise" onto Bourbon Street and elsewhere, often drowning out street musicians and the city's famed jazz and brass bands.
"Our authentic culture did not begin in Congo Square with woofers," Palmer said. "Nor did Louis Armstrong or Louis Prima or our Mardi Gras Indians or our street musicians have amplifiers with the ability to shake the walls and blow out surrounding music."
Responding to last-minute concerns about the law's affect on amplified music in courtyards, Palmer and Councilwoman Stacy Head, who in recent days signed on as a co-author, agreed to defer for at least 90 days the implementation of a section that would require City Hall to grant special permission for the placement of loudspeakers in unenclosed spaces.
The council also amended the measure to clarify that the rules don't apply to permanently closed doors and windows. Barring a veto by Mayor Mitch Landrieu, the rest of the law is expected to go into effect April 15.
Under the ordinance, bars and restaurants that serve alcohol would be required to keep loudspeakers 10 feet or more from any doors and windows that are open to the outdoors. For establishments without a liquor license, the gap would be 20 feet. In both cases, sound could not be projected from the back of a speaker, and the city fire marshal could grant exemptions to allow doors and windows to remain open.
Owners, managers, disc jockeys and anyone named on the business's occupational license would be on the hook for violations.