Ocean City Council Passes Boardwalk Entertainers Noise Law

OCEAN CITY, N.J. — After years of discussion and months of tweaking the latest version, Ocean City Council unanimously passed an ordinance Thursday limiting noise and amplification for Boardwalk entertainers.

As the ordinance stands, entertainers cannot produce sound that can be heard 30 feet from the Boardwalk. No electronic amplifiers are permitted except for certain electric instruments, "such as a keyboard," the ordinance states.

Community members raised concerns such as how the ordinance would affect certain instruments, such as electric guitars. Several residents also said at the meeting they do not believe this law properly addresses musicians with disabilities who use modified instruments.

Discussion On Disability

Chris Leibrandt, who owns Ocean City's GrassRoots Music Store, discussed one of his students with a disability. The student performs on the Boardwalk with an electric guitar designed for someone in a wheelchair.

"Would this be violating the Americans with Disabilities Act that you’re permitting the keyboard to be amplified but you’re not permitting Robby’s electric guitar to be amplified?" Leibrandt said. " ... What about the person with the disabled voice who needs to be amplified to sing properly and not damage their vocal chords?"

Fourth Ward Councilman Bobby Barr, who has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair, said he did not know such modified equipment for musicians existed. He welcomed the idea for the ordinance to state the performers who need adaptive equipment with amplification can play.

The rest of Ocean City Council and Mayor Jay A. Gillian agreed they did not want to prevent people with disabilities from using adaptive equipment. But they discussed whether the ordinance needed to change to clarify that.

"If you want to put an exception or additional change into the ordinance, that’s substantial change," said City Solicitor Dotty McCrosson. "If you want to rely on city staff to make a reasonable accommodation for anyone with a disability, you can pass it as it is and rely on staff to do that."

Barr said he trusted city staff and police to correctly enforce the law. But he didn't want to put police in a position where they must determine who has a disability and who's taking advantage of the law.

Gillian said this law will not effect people with disabilities who use adaptive equipment, and focusing on how it affects them is "how we keep changing the subject all the time."

"What we’re trying to do again here is the 1 or 2 percent who are obnoxious, who are looking for a fight and trying to engage our police officers," Gillian said.

What About Electric Guitars?

Several people expressed concerns during public comment about which instruments might be prohibited.

"The nuances and sound that come from an electric guitar amp cannot be made acoustically," said one concerned citizen. "It’s impossible."

Councilwoman At Large Karen Bergman said the ordinance does not specifically ban electric guitars.

"It says ‘such as’ a keyboard," Bergman said. "It doesn’t say only a keyboard. An electric guitar is an instrument. So to me, reading this ordinance, it doesn’t ban an electric guitar."

Third Ward Councilman Tony Wilson said musicians don't necessarily need amplification. He cited Kurt Cobain, Hootie & The Blowfish and R.E.M. for their performances on "MTV Unplugged," which features artists playing acoustic instruments.

"Those guys rocked it with no amplification," Wilson said.

Beibrandt was not satisfied with that explanation.

"Those performances were simply acoustic but yet still amplified," Beibrandt told Patch. "Nirvana Unplugged, Cobain is singing into a microphone."

Several concerned citizens supported using decibel readers to measure if entertainers played too loudly. One man mentioned they run from $18.99 to $24.99.

"We have to measure that sound at a distance," David Hayes said during citizen comment. "We have to set a benchmark."

Council members expressed two concerns with using decibel readers:

1. Having officers walking up and down measuring sound takes them off the main priority of keeping children safe, said Councilman At Large Keith Hartzell.
2. Decibel readers may have trouble measuring the sound of specific performers and pick up the loudest noises around them.

Merchant Matters

However, some concerned citizens noted the loudest noises on the Boardwalk can come from businesses.

"It should be one thing and one thing only. What are the decibels of the pirates going ‘ark ark ark ark’ and the chimpanzees doing ‘Under the Boardwalk,’" said resident Steven Fenichel. "That’s the bottom line. Anything besides that is really not consistent with Ocean City being America’s greatest family resort."

"Don’t do selective enforcement," said resident Georgina Shanley. "Make the entertainers the same as the merchants who are allowed to have all this sound and noise on the Boardwalk."

The Ocean City, NJ Boardwalk Merchants Association supports the boardwalk entertainers ordinance, according to association president Wes Mazmarck. Jody Levchuk, an owner of the Jilly's shops on the Boardwalk, read a statement Mazmarck wrote on behalf of the association.

"We worked closely with the city on this ordinance, and it was always with the caveat that we would revisit specifics if we thought adjustments were warranted," Mazmarck's statement said. "The elimination of amplifiers is nothing more than that."

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