Kent’s new noise ordinance attempts to balance business, resident needs

Kent City Council’s latest amendment to the city’s noise ordinance decreases the hours outdoor music can be played in the city’s DORA.

Muffling the music has long had council balancing the interests of downtown business owners and their patrons with those of Kent residents who want a good night’s sleep.

At its July 22 meeting, council amended the city’s noise ordinance to state that outdoor music could only be played in the DORA (Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area) from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.

Kent’s previous ordinance had allowed outdoor music to be played in the DORA from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and from 7 a.m. to midnight Fridays and Saturdays.

The newest amendment will be effective for 120 days to allow council to determine if further adjustments are needed.

Council approved Kent’s first noise ordinance in December 2002, prohibiting anyone from making “any noise which disturbs, annoys, injures or endangers the comfort repose or health, peace or safety of persons of ordinary sensibilities.”

The 2002 ordinance did not reference Kent’s entertainment venues and predated the city’s DORA, which was not established until 2020. It did single out amplified or unamplified musical instruments, as well as other “electronic sound-producing devices” played at a volume that annoyed or disturbed people who lived or worked in the vicinity.

Kent’s DORA stretches toward the university, across the Main Street bridge to Park Avenue, along Franklin Avenue to Summit Street, along South Water Street to Lake Street and, crossing the Fairchild Avenue bridge, along North Mantua Street past Stinaff Street.

Police raise initial concerns

Fast forward to June 2023, when former Kent Police Chief Nick Shearer spoke to council members about KPD’s attempts to respect Kent’s vibrant music scene and residents who may not care for it, at least at certain hours.

“One person’s noise is another person’s beautiful music,” he said. 

At the time, KPD operated on an unwritten understanding that the downtown business district was off limits as far as the 2002 noise ordinance was concerned, he said.

Should KPD receive a complaint, he said officers would visit the venue to ask for the music to be turned down or taken inside. He said he couldn't recall ever citing a downtown business for noise and in the previous year and five months could only find one complaint that could actually be traced to a downtown business.

DORA in place, council tweaked its noise ordinance to allow outdoor music to be played within its boundaries from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and from 7 a.m. to midnight Fridays and Saturdays.

Council’s action was to be a 120-day experiment, but local legislators did not revisit the issue until March 2024, when they removed the 120-day clause and made the tweak permanent.

Noise carries to Ward 1

That seemed to work until recently, when council members noted on July 1 that the music refuses to stay put.

“A lot of people have contacted me because it's a particular issue in Ward 1,” Council Member Melissa Celko said. “The sound comes up in a particular odd way up into the ward area where we are. So Main Street, Pioneer and that neighborhood all over there, the sound resonates in a really close fashion.”

Echoing Celko, nearby resident and Council Member Ben Tipton told The Portager that, “there are nights that we have to shut our windows when we wouldn’t want to because it is so loud.”

Council once again asked the former police chief for his assessment and learned that KPD records dating from April 1, 2026, until July 1, 2026, tallied seven complaints: four from people who lived next door to Barflyy Retro Bar on East Erie Street, two from Dan Smith Community Park on East Erie Street and one from the Brewhouse Pub on North Water Street.

When Celko suggested that residents may be calling their council reps instead of local law enforcement, Shearer encouraged those reps to ask the complainants to contact law enforcement while the music was actually playing. Then, he said, police might be able to intervene.

Faced with finding a good balance between Kent’s entertainment venues and residents, council members agree the ordinance now in place may not be the last.

“Nothing’s ever going to be perfect, so we just got to keep tweaking and making it the best we can for everybody,” Council Member Jeff Clapper said.

Bridget Tipton, co-founder of Bell Tower Brewing at Park Avenue and Gougler Avenue, said she has booked less than a half dozen outdoor solo performers in five years. In any case, Bell Tower closes at 10 p.m., she said.

She acknowledged that she can hear the music at her West Main Street home near the Masonic Temple. Even so, she said, it must be possible to maintain Kent’s vibrant live music culture while respecting people’s repose.

That’s partially her brother-in-law’s job.

“Let’s see how this goes, and we’re willing to address it even more if necessary, but we are also balancing the needs and interests of those in downtown that are running businesses and the residents of downtown,” Ben Tipton said.