Bend police have not issued a single citation to any business for violating noise limits since the City Council voted in May to require police to use decibel meters at concerts and other commercial events.

Instead, residents were on the receiving end of all 11 citations that police issued for alleged violations of the Bend noise ordinance since May 1, said Capt. Cory Darling, who oversees the patrol division. The police issued these citations for loud parties, loud music and in one case, loud screaming and yelling.

Darling said he did not know how many of these 11 citations resulted from police using a decibel meter, but the city noise ordinance still allows police to issue citations to residents when sounds from an amplifier or speaker are “plainly audible” at the property line of any home or other “noise-sensitive” facilities such as hotels, hospitals and nursing homes between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m.

The City Council passed the first version of the noise ordinance in May 2012, after residents complained about music at the Century Center and a hard rock concert at Troy Field downtown during the Bend Summer Festival.

The ordinance primarily limits noise between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m., although there are also decibel limits on daytime noise. Musicians and venue operators complained that enforcement of the noise ordinance was too subjective without a requirement to use decibel meters, and a municipal court judge cited a lack of clarity in the city code when he dismissed a citation against The Horned Hand music venue last year. Those factors led the City Council in May to adopt the requirement that police use decibel meters to measure noise at commercial events, if they plan to issue citations.

The Police Department owns only a couple of decibel meters, and if officers are called to investigate a noise complaint they have to stop by the office to pick up one of the devices. “We don’t get a whole lot of those complaints,” Darling said. As a result, officers infrequently use the meters and often have to reread the operating instructions. “It’s an added step in the process,” Darling said. “It’s a little cumbersome. It’s a little time-intensive.”

Jason Schweitzer, a local musician who previously called for police to use decibel meters more often, said the situation has improved since May. “As far as I know, it’s been going great,” said Schweitzer, who is lead singer and plays guitar in The Rum and the Sea. The Century Center once again began holding outdoor concerts, such as The Presidents of the United States of America in June, and a couple of new music venues opened in Bend, Schweitzer said. In August 2012, Century Center owner Dave Hill canceled the Bend Roots Revival that was scheduled to take place at the venue, although at the time Hill attributed the decision to land use issues, not the noise ordinance.

“As far as I know, I don’t think anyone’s been turned down for a permit yet,” Schweitzer said.

Not all music event organizers have obtained city permits. Bend police received a couple of complaints about loud noise at the 10 Barrel Brewing Co.’s Nov. 30 Pray for Snow event. When police went to the event, organizers showed them a permit, Darling said. The police did not issue a citation for violating the noise ordinance, but later realized 10 Barrel did not have a permit for the concert; 10 Barrel Brewing had a permit from the Oregon Liquor Control Commission, but not a permit for the concert. Darling did not know when the concert ended.

Garrett Wales, a partner at 10 Barrel Brewing Co., said the concert stopped at 9 p.m., and employees of the brewery believed they had obtained all necessary permits. Wales said 10 Barrel Brewing Co. employees went door-to-door to deliver notices of the event to neighbors, and the event was from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.

“We don’t want it to be a late-night event,” Wales said.

— Reporter: 541-617-7829, hborrud@bendbulletin.com