The Town board members grappled again with the subject of adopting a decibel-based noise ordinance Tuesday night at the Town Board meeting but had difficulty agreeing on what the limits of a noise ordinance should be.
Members rejected using the Colorado state statute and the Denver ordinance as models, calling the 55 decibel day-time standard in a residential zone and a 50 decibel standard during overnight hours as too low. Trustee Cindy Younglund voiced support for a prior ordinance that would allow 80 decibels of noise to be the standard. Trustee Marie Cenac expressed concern that a decibel noise ordinance would make it difficult for some music venues to operate.
The board also wrestled with whether noise should be measured from the property line of the receiving property complaining about noise or at the property line of the location making the noise.
Trustee Bill Brown suggested that the board should have a sound engineer make a presentation to the board to explain how sound is measured and to answer trustee questions in order that a new ordinance be scientifically based. He compared setting an objective decibel based ordinance that is measured with a calibrated noise meter to establishing an objective speed limit that is measured with a speed meter.
The board did not take up the issue of the noise ordinance until almost 10 p.m., and they did not entertain public comment until after 10 p.m. Only two people came forward to offer their opinions on the proposed ordinance.
Travis Machalek, Estes Park town administrator submitted a proposed hybrid decibel-based policy to the Town Board that would limit sound to 60 decibels during the day and 55 decibels during the overnight hours in a residential zone. Consensus on what the board members what in an ordinance was not reached.
While the noise ordinance was last on the agenda, the first piece of business taken up by the board was approval of the 2025 Visit Estes Park operating plan. After hearing about the organization’s ideas for promoting the community in the coming year during a September work session conducted with Larimer County Commissioners, the board ultimately decided the plan was acceptable.
During that work session there had been discussion that the plan lacked a few specific elements board members wanted to see, but VEP remedied the issues in a revised document and the plan was approved Tuesday. The approval was required given terms of the intergovernmental agreement with Larimer County allowing the district to collect sales taxes and continue operating.
The board also accepted the annual audit of financial statements for the 2024 fiscal year.