Music To Be Turned Down In Round Rock Starting April 15, 2019

ROUND ROCK, TEXAS — This coming Monday won't be the day the music died in Round Rock, but the beginning of more muted melodies.

Starting on Monday, April 15, music-playing businesses along the Main Street entertainment corridor will have to keep the music down per a recently passed ordinance. From 10 p.m. to 10 a.m., sounds emanating from the Main Street bars won't be allowed to exceed 60 decibels — down from 75 decibels that were allowable in the shuttered guidelines allowing for such volume between the hours of 9 p.m. to 7 a.m.

For context, 60 decibels is equivalent to conversation in restaurant, office, background music or an air conditioning unit at 100 feet., according to the iac acoustics website. Comparatively, 79 decibels is about the same volume as a passenger car traveling 65 miles per hour at 25 feet or a vaccuum cleaner, the site indicates.

The new noise ordinance gained unanimous approval of city council members in March. The move came amid a torrent of complaints from nearby residents saying the tunes were simply too loud. Some of those gripes came during an open house city officials staged at the beginning of the year that was attended by residents and business owners.

"The amendment to the current noise ordinance seeks to find balance between an active downtown with live music and quality of life for downtown residents by imposing stricter standards to the Mixed Use 1 (MU-1) zoning district in downtown," Round Rock officials explained. The Round Rock City Council approved a proposal to strengthen the city’s noise ordinance on second and final reading at its March 14 meeting "...to more effectively address loud music late at night in the downtown area," officials added.

Efforts to bring down the volume date to spring 2018, when police began more actively enforcing the noise ordinance, officials said. After city staff members began monitoring noise levels at various locations downtown, it was determined that the old ordinance — which measured sound 200 feet from the property line of the source of noise — had not been effective in addressing the problem, officials added.

"In addition to limiting the time when outdoor music can be played, the ordinance amendment states that noise measurements would be taken at the property line, making it easier for police to enforce while reducing the levels of sound reaching residences," officials said.

And the city means business, too: Repeated violations of the new section of the noise ordinance will result in the loss of the permit for a period of 12 months, city officials have warned.

Nearby Austin prides itself as the "live musical capital of the world." Making no such claims itself, Round Rock could be dubbed among the more muted sites for music come Monday, so you enjoy bands playing at high volume until then.