Lake Worth Mayor Jeff Clemens watches as Craig Long of the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office uses a meter to measure the sound coming from a live band playing in South Shores Tavern. Photo by Damon Higgins/The Palm Beach Post
See photos of the Friday night sound walk
Friday night’s city commission meeting began outside the library on M Street as a band played on stage across the street and dozens of people milled around Lake and Lucerne avenues during the twice-a-month Evening on the Avenues.
“Welcome to the Lake Worth City Commission dance off,” Mayor Jeff Clemens joked as the city clerk recorded attendance on a clipboard.
The commission’s special mission: Measure sound coming from bars and restaurants as part of a plan to revise the city’s noise ordinance and resolve the conflict between bar owners and downtown residents who say they’re losing sleep because of music that sometimes lasts until 2 a.m.
Joining the commissioners on the 9 p.m. sound walk were Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office deputies who enforce the city’s noise ordinance, a handful of residents and several candidates for mayor and city commission. Lt. Craig Long carried the decibel meter.
“We’re just trying to figure out what a certain decibel level means in real life,” Clemens said. “The bars know we’re coming. We’re not going to catch anybody.”
At the first stop, Havana Hideout on Lake Avenue, the music coming from the sound system was barely audible at the curb.
“We just had 92 from the motorcycle going by,” Clemens announced, referring to the decibel level after a bike rumbled by.
No band was playing when the commissioners stopped by Havana Hideout, but owner Chrissy Benoit said she has measured 92 decibels on the sidewalk when she has a band on stage.
A disco beat was coming from Ouzo Blue Greek Taverna on Lake Avenue. The fact-finding group paused for a curb reading: 99 decibels.
Walking north to Lucerne Avenue, music coming from The Cottage was subdued. The meter read 82 decibels on the sidewalk, but the numbers moved higher when members of the group started talking.
After Clemens asked The Cottage manager to crank up the stereo, the decibel meter hit 91 and resident Elizabeth Arevalo started dancing.
“It sounds good to me,” Commissioner Retha Lowe said. “Even when they turn it up it’s not that loud.”
The noise ordinance proposed for the downtown business area would allow 85 decibels from 6 p.m. until 3 a.m. and 65 decibels from 3 a.m. until 6 p.m. measured at the property line of the sound-generating property. The proposed ordinance also would allow enforcement without meters if the sound can be “clearly heard” 200 feet from the property line of the sound-generating property.
The city’s existing noise ordinance requires law-enforcement officers to subjectively decide what constitutes “loud and raucous.”
At South Shores Tavern and Patio Bar, the reading on the sidewalk near the wooden fence that encloses the open-air courtyard was 89 decibels, fluctuating at times to 99.
On the sidewalk outside homes at M Street and Second Avenue North, the live-band sound was less pronounced. The meter reading ranged from 70 to 80 decibels.
Long said the noise level was low Friday compared with other nights in downtown Lake Worth.
“A lot of bass is kicking in some nights,” Long told commissioners. “It depends on what kind of music they’re playing.”
Commissioners asked the sheriff’s office to continue taking decibel readings downtown, noting the time, noise level and location, and to bring a report back.
“It was oddly quiet downtown this evening,” Commissioner Cara Jennings said, noting that the noise issue could come back before the commission in September.
City officials also have discussed hosting a round table meeting to bring downtown bar owners and residents together to work out their differences, but no date has been set for such a meeting.
your going to have a make a choice:
do you want buisness downtown, or do you want quite?
you cant have both. i live in a ‘downtown’ too, and its noisy as hell. but if your downtown is not noisy, its probably failing.
was the hair standing up on cara jennings legs?
i find her attractive
Golly I have been watching this town ram too much government down the throats of their citizens for a long time. It is not working, I stopped going there. Business owners are tired of the ordinances and obsticals that government puts in the way of creating a vital downtown, and the demographics changes in the past twenty years are a reflection of just that. The corner where the Lantana Ale House and grumpy Grouper are (right up the road) do more business than all Lake Worth places put together. The Station House has decent food too as long as you can stomach the owner guy.
One of the prior posters had it right, the commissioners can’t have it both ways. Either you have a downtown where people spend time or you have a downtown where people live. My thought on this is if you own a home in a downtown area you knew what you were buying. The bars were there laong before you bought. If you don’t like the noise move farther away from it. I love downtown Lake Worth but I don’t want to live near it.
L.W. sucks
PBSO, ICE , DEA, US MARSHALLS , IRS AND ETC SHOULD BE FOCUSING ON BILL SOUTHARD A FELON THAT IS MANAGING HOLIDAY 2 MOBILE HOME PARK
HE CONDUCTING CRIMINAL ACTIVITES AND THIS IS A THEFT AND SHOULD BE PLACED BACK IN GREYBAR HOTEL …FOR HIS MISCONDUCTED ON THE RESIDENT THAT ARE TO SCARED TO SPEAK UP…. PARK IN LOCATED EAST OF
L W downtown next to I-95 and tri rail….THIS IS A GOOD CATCH FOR ALL ABOVE AGENCIES.
Talk about killing the goose that laid the golden egg!
Downtown Lake Worth is cool and a much better alternative to
Mizner, City Place or Atlantic Ave for people who want to have fun, nit just be poseurs.
Downtown needs all the help and encouragement it can get.
Housing on it’s fringe is overflowing with For Sale and For Rent signs. It doesn’t cops with decibel meters. Go concentrate on REAL crime!
GOT CHA BIG FAT BILL AND ISABELLA SOUTHARD GOOD LUCK GETTIN OUT OF THIS SHIT
PBSO, ICE , IRS , FBI , DEA AND ETC SHOULD BE FOCUSING ON THE MAJOR CRIMINAL ACTIVITY THAT BILL SOUTHARD AND ISABELLA HIS PERU WIFE ….AND MR PETERSON OWNER OF SEVERAL TRAILER PARKS.. ARE CONDUCTING WITHIN THEIR OWN PERSONAL PERSONAL GAINS AND HAS ALL THE RESIDENTS AT THEIR WITS END … WITH THE CRIMINAL WHOM IS CALLED THE MANAGER , STEALS MONIES AND TRAILERS AND WHATEVER HE CAN OBTAIN ….HOLIDAY MOBILE HOME PARK LOCATED EAST OF DOWNTOWN RIGHT NEXT TO I-95/TRI RAIL.. THIS MAN IS A LARGE FAT CREEPY FELON CONTROLLING A TRAILER PARK… CHECK HIS COMPUTER
Were you evicted for not paying your rent? Maybe you lost you home for that reason. Unfortunately, some people are losing their homes because they cannot pay the rent. You might look inside yourself for you problems, not blame other people.
Do you there ? I have always paid my rent in A timely matter. and keep pride inside and outside … Riverstone coummuties is A large company prying on the poor and etc.. I take on my own BATTLES AND NO NEED FOR A SCAPEGOAT !!!! THE loss was BECAUSE OF 88.59 water issue.. that the park was double charging the residents..
You seem to be a suspect yourself HUH? RIGHT ON THAT ONE !
tRUST ME live there and endure the mishandling of the Monies for your self…
No I paid my rent always on a timely manner.. This Is a company that Riverstone Coummmnties that are prying on the poor,,,
Trust ME ON THIS ONE.. mAYBE YOU SHOULD CHECK THE hISTORY AND ON GOING [PROBLEM S THIS PARK AND MANY ARE DEALING WITH.
dO YOU LIVE THERE … iT SOUNDS AS IF YOU COULD BE A POSSIBle
suspect yourself…. 88.59 is what I lost this so called home for
. 2 years.. And I take on my own BATTLES NO NEED FOR A SCAPEGOAT !!!!
In reference to the one complaining about Holiday 2 mobile home park,its a dump to begin with.Holiday 2 mobile home park houses illegals low life scum and yes it is managed by a bunch of low life scum that pray on the low income people.I know Doug Peterson I know Bill the manager and I know about Riverstone communities.If you got evicted count your blessings and move on they did you a favor.That park along with many they own have been in trouble with the cities that they reside in due to code violations and should be shut down.Anyone who lives in one of those parks owned by Riverstone communities would be smart to voluntarily move out and better them selves.It is also a good place for the feds like ICE,DEA,FBI,IRS and other local agencies to start investigating because they do crooked business in a fashion that all those agencies listed above would take an interest in.
PBSO ,DEA , ICE , FBI , IRS AND ETC. SHOULD BE FOCUSING ON
BILL SOUTHARD AND ISABELLA AND MR PETERSON THE JERK THAT STEALS TRAILERS AND MONIES ..WHATeveR THE CREEP CAN THEFT FROM THE RESIDENT OF HOLIDAY MOBILE HOME PARK EAST OF DOWNTOWN NEXT TO TRI-
So why dont you tell us the whole story? Like how do you have such intimate knowledge of these crimes? Specifically what are the crimes? Where do you live now that the trailer park threw you out?
It has been a blessing .. I live in A nice Clean Home..
as I did w/ trailer maid service also at Home in trailer.I ‘m very clean with self resect ..
Its the PRINCIPLE OF THE MATTER !!!
I don’t understand why loud music is the “rage”. It is often impossible for the patrons to have a conversation with each other without literally shouting at each other.
I wish that the bar owners and patrons alike would realize that “less is better” when it comes to noise levels…and the neighors would appreciate it too.
Maybe next the painfully loud motorcycles would get it, and then the loud car exhaust people would get it, and finally those whose car bass rattles the windows of my home…would get it.
But I am afraid this type of civility is too much to ask for in south Florida.
Why is less better? If you want to have a conversation with someone go to a restaurant that doesn’t play music. Problem solved.
I know me and my friends like to go to bars that play music we like. Hang out, have a few cocktails and people watch. If the people around a downtown area don’t like the loud music, or a lot of people and loud cars they should move. I’m sure Lake Worth needs all the money they can. Having a downtown area with fun bars or restaurants will bring in more money.
These downtown residents do not know a good thing when they see one. Obviously they were attracted to move to the area because of the potential for growth and prosperity, and when those things arrive they start complaining. Just imagine how they would start reacting if the bars and restaurants all closed down, or not be as popular as they are now. The residents would start complaining to the city. Can’t have it both ways
I am a Lake Worth native but I live in Munich, Germany. Munich has (or I should say had) a night-life/shopping district called Schwabing. When I first visited Schwabing in 1991, it was a florishing community. However, the residents killed the night-life and shops there with exactly the same arguments as the Lake Worth jerks (noise at night, young people, property values, law and order, drinking, etc.). They had a big political fight in the ’90s about the closing times of the “Beer Gardens” in the English Gardens, which killed the night-life and sealed the fate of Schwabing forever.
I’m sure that the idiots who run Lake Worth will come to the conclusion that they don’t want a vibrant, lively city. Look at Miami Beach, pre-Miami Vice. It was a run-down dump in the middle ’80s (I also live there from ‘87 to ‘91). Now it’s a vibrant city and property prices have risen 10-fold. The citizens of Lake Worth would never want that to happen.
Maybe Lake Worth can talk some bank into financing a “City Place° type of development at the beach. That certainly stopped all these young rowdies and scantily clad girls on Clematis. They can contribute to the “Disneyfication” of Florida and kill the downtown area altogether. It would certainly help with the parking situation.
Somehow.I find it refreshing and scary that stupidity is everywhere and crosses both language, cultural borders and nationalities.
We did have a plan for the beach, not like City Place, but it was going to be much nicer then it is now. But the city of Lake Worth doesn’t want City Place, and they weren’t going to get City Place but that is what the Cara Jennings cronnies made it out to be. They scared a lot of people into thinking that only Starbucks and other franchises would be allowed to hold businesses there and not their welcomed mom and pop businesses that have long been there. And they killed it, the same people that are killing downtown Lake Worth. Cara Jennings wants all of Lake Worth reduced to rubble so the trees and wildlife can take over. She doesn’t want a beach project, she loves the foreclosures and she wants downtown to be a wasteland so that people will leave her “Jewel” and she and her cronnies can have bonfires with the house panels and let nature reign again!
She didn’t want the Sheriff to come in so crime could run rampant.
She didn’t want the Beach Project so that we can stare at that ugly building and the ugly parking lot on the south side and people won’t want to come back to the beach.
She doesn’t want businesses in Lake Worth to have nighclub status to attract people to come to downtown.
She doesn’t want anything in Lake Worth! SHE WANTS PEOPLE TO LEAVE, AND THEY ARE!
And she’s more concerned about dedicating her time to going to Miami and getting arrested then to read the town legislation and get a firm understanding of it. I’ve been to the town meetings and she doesn’t hear what the EXPERTS they paid to present their finding to the commission have to say. They explain and then she asks the same question they just answered! She has her own agenda and it has nothing to do with getting Lake Worth on the road to prosperity. Jennings, Mulvehill, and Golden ALL need to go before they run Lake Worth into the ground.
And the businesses of Lake Worth are suffering HARD! Their utility bills keep going up, as do the rest of Lake Worth residents! She doesn’t care she just wants people to leave! But that’s not what she says, listen to her words then watch how she votes! She’s not voting in the best interests of Lake Worth but she’s spinning it like she is.
WAKE UP PEOPLE!
And Mulvehill is only there by John G’s good graces. And even tho the food at John G’s is awesome and it would really hurt beach revenue if the restuarant left DO WE REALLY WANT A SINGLE BUSINESS TO DICTATE OUR CITY POLICY! because that is exactly what is happening. Mulvehill is in John G’s pocket and the owners of that restuarant don’t want to pay a dime more in rent and they paid for Mulvehill’s election to ensure that. They are behind a lot of the rummors concerning the beach project!
FOLLOW THE MONEY BABY!
Well just about the only thing Lake Worth has going for it is the small downtown. Now the mayor has the Sheriff’s department conducting noise checks. There goes the downtown! The only thing sustaining the downtown are the bars and restaurants, and now if they can’t play music they will probably shut down leaving downtown Lake Worth a virtual ghost town. Very bright idea! Worry about your antiquated utility systems, and the high crime rate! As for the people who live there—You knew what was in the are when you moved there—if you don’t like noise then perhaps you should have moved farther out west to the ‘burbs!
In the gardens area they came to an agreement a long time ago, you have Panama Hattie’s and the Waterway Cafe, in order to stay in bsns they stopped the music at midnight, those homes are certainly worth more than all of Lake Worth combined. Let the politicians kill the downtown bsns then they willl raise taxes for all, and then you can thank the renters and homeowners for the tax hike. Don’t you think Lake Worth has enough problems?
The voices in my head are much louder than the music in LW. Somebody make them stop!
People looking for a conspiracy to bring anarchy to Lake Worth certainly have a lot of ammunition.
First we attack the infrastructure. Don’t improve the roads or any of the public assets. Create a problem with water by killing a plan for adequate supply and then mire alternatives in debate or plans that are ill conceived. Don’t maintain the electric generation and distribution systems and then make the cost of electricity prohibitive. Sound familiar so far?
Then we make the Comprehensive Plan and Zoning Ordinances anti development so that employment, goods and services are provided outside the city. Be sure to cut back on police protection and code enforcement to further discourage investment in the city.
Finally, we attack the successful businesses to make sure they don’t expand or even survive. Use available resources and time on plans and projects that can never come to fruition or if they do, will not alleviate the problems.
It doesn’t really matter if that is the plan or just the consequences of uninformed Commission decisions. The result is the same.
I never understood why loud music ever got an adults attention, I could understand a young druggie on acid waiting for his brain to melt away while listening to LOUD and Disturbing Music !! I prefer Bars close by home so I won’t get hit by a drunk going home but they play Loud Rock Music which only brings in Groupies and Druggies. Lake Worth on the other hand has never really had anything to do with sensible cures to problems, small towns tend to prey on their own management Stupidity !! When Dennis Dorsey and Joe Martin was in Office, it was a nice Town to stay the Hell out of regardless !!
Congratulations city commissioners, you are about to do what has silenced music and kept people away from downtown West Palm Beach for years.
Lake Worth, good god people you have a vibrant downtown, FINALLY, and now a few people who never go out anyway are voicing their opinions and Lake Worth will be shunned and shut down many an establishment. The bikers, who know how to spend money will take there business elsewhere.
L.W residents, just buy earplugs a couple nights a week…end of story! Your city is prospering- be happy with that!
maybe if the band playing at South Shores was any good, no one would be complaining
hey that’s what you get when you build a condo/ HO-TELL right in the middle of downtown..the clubs are what attracted you there..grand-pa ..now stop bitching or go back to NEW JERK!!!!
It’s the BASS and DRUMS. Noise levels don’t include the irritating bass and drums that will wake you up at night. Other cities have been through the same process, and L.W. can simply adopt a noise ordinance that covers the sound that travels. Higher pitched sounds and regular music does not travel far at all, but the bass and bass drums sound travels for blocks.
Here is what it’s like with the bass and drums: Tennis shoes in a clothes dryer, just outside your bedroom window. It passes the “noise” test of every city, but it will keep your family from sleeping.
Do you live there ? My rent was always paid on time and kePT THE PLACE WITH PRIDE INSIDE AND OUTSIDE..
I take on my own battles no need for scapegoat .. I handle my own it more productive that why … No need to blame others…
the loss was over 88.59 .. from mishandling of the company accountant posting … the park was double charging water bills .
Its not all about me .. I am going to do my Best and Will help these poor souls living under these criminials ..
And JB you sound as if you could be a suspect yourself…thanks 4 comment and try.. to scapegoat it.. but no why with this one..
Then take it to small claims and stop complainging. NOW YOUR CIVIL RIGHTS or are you another damn illegal? Seeing as you came from that dump I wouldn’t be surprised. Your poor english and grammer are hurting my eyes. Shut up!
Deal with it or move!! The bars have a right to be in business and the patrons have a right to have fun!! You buy property DOWNTOWN…what did you think it was gonna be like?? Move out west if you want it completely quiet and leave everyone the hell alone!
This babs guy is cracking me up.
THE FOUNDING FATHERS OF THIS COUNTRY WOULD BE SO DISAPPOINTED THAT THE GOVERNMENT ERODES US OF OUR RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS. WAKE UP AMERICA, DO WE REALLY LIVE IN A FREE SOCIETY?
WE HAVE A REPORTED 11% UNEMPLOYMENT RATE WHICH IS ACTUALLY 20% AND THE MAYOR OF LAKE WORTH IS MORE INTERESTED IN FINING LOCAL BUSINESS THAT PRODUCES JOBS AND NEEDED TAX REVENUE FOR THE CITY. BUT INSTEAD OF TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO INCREASE JOBS AND REVENUE BY INCREASING THE SIZE OF THE LOCAL ECONOMY, HE IS MORE INTERESTED IN FINING A BUSINESS FOR THE LOUD SOUND OF MUSIC.
IF THE PEOPLE THAT LIVE NEAR THE RESTAURANTS ARE SO UNHAPPY, THEN THEY SHOULD HAVE BOUGHT OR RENTED HOMES SOMEWHERE ELSE. WHAT IS OUR COUNTRY COMING TOO??? THAT RESTAURANT IS PROVIDING JOBS AND REVENUE FOR MANY PEOPLE.
IT PROVIDES INCOME FOR ITS EMPLOYEES IT BUYS FOOD FROM ITS SUPPLIERS, IT PAYES STATE AND FEDERAL TAXES, IT PROVIDES RENT FOR THE PROPERTY OWNER WHICH IN TURN PAYS A COMMERCIAL MORTGAGE.
THE MAYOR OF LAKE WORTH SHOULD BE LOUT TRYING TO GENERATE MORE BUSINESS FOR THE CITY AND ITS RESIDENTS NOT ACT LIKE BIG BROTHER!!!
The noise would not be so much of a problem if the bands played inside. If I sat outside my home and made as much noise I would be fined. Why should there be any difference. I eat and spend my money at all of the downtown businesses but when it’s time to go to bed so that I can Get up and go to work in the morning to make that money to spend I should not Have to have my home all closed up just to get a good nights sleep. If I live a block and a half from you and you are making enough noise that I can’t sleep then we have a problem.
The noise in downtown Lake Worth is not a real issue if, while walking, the decibel meter showed levels nearly equal to the noise coming from the bars. When a motorcycle goes by with its exhaust louder than the music, who is enforcing that noise level? Downtown is a money-maker for the Town of Lake Worth. Kill off the music, you kill off the bar/night-clubs, and the downtown will die a slow economic death.
With the exception of the “block party” type of venues that occur on a few holidays like Veteran’s Day, most of the entertainment venues have curtailed their volumes.
Renters of apartments and even owners of units most closely located to the bars knew full well, prior to moving in, that these places existed. Zoning has planned for the existence of these business establishments, like that which exist. The fact that some residents now want the rules changed is an undue burden on the businesses and should not be allowed to occur.
If the Town of Lake Worth is to prosper, the zoning of the central areas will, out of necessity, have to remain conducive to businesses.
I live downtown, and LOVE to hear the sounds of music floating on an evening breeze, seeing my neighbors walk to and from our vibrant downtown, feeling a part of the best small town in South Florida. If you don’t like it, get out. Plenty of us WANT to live here.
Good Job Babs
Take this Company Down !!!! I’m impressed by your COURAGE.
Really, the tiny downtown with it’s friendly Old South Florida feel is all that LW has going for it. Look around. Thrift stores, low income housing, and really high property taxes is all that will be left.
Downtown lake worth is great,The bartenders are all cool except for chelsea who is a snob.