City council approves noise code updates

At a July 7 meeting, the Gunnison City Council unanimously adopted updates to the city’s nuisance ordinance, which introduce more clearly defined exemptions from noise restrictions for community events but are otherwise largely the same as the prior rules.

Discussion of the issues began at the June 23 city council meeting, where the updates to section 5.30.20 of the City of Gunnison Municipal Code, which covers nuisances prohibited, were brought before the council for a first reading.

City Manager Amanda Wilson introduced the changes, saying they were driven by a need to better align the existing ordinance, which has not been changed since 1997, with historical practices and to accommodate events that fit the council’s economic prosperity goals.

Wilson said that the current noise limitations in the ordinance are frequently exceeded, with even the conversation she was having with the council potentially exceeding it in some circumstances.

She said that the current code uses decibels to restrict noise levels and, while it is in line with ordinances adopted by other nearby municipalities, it is not functioning well.

Football games at Western Colorado University (WCU), events at the I Bar Ranch and many community events like Sundays at Six are all in violation of the code, Wilson said.

“Why have a regulation if we’re not going to enforce it?” she said, adding that issues also arise from not consistently applying a code.

“So, our team, staff-wise, for many decades, have been doing their best to be reasonable when we get complaints … and so we’re trying to navigate that the best that we can,” she said. “They’re typically short term, and we work through that.”

Wilson said that city staff typically bring potential code updates to council multiple times and seek public engagement on the changes prior to asking for a decision.

However, this did not occur with the nuisance ordinance, she said, since city staff are currently processing a large number of event permit applications, many for longstanding community events, which will violate the nuisance ordinance. She said that city staff wanted to clarify the expectations surrounding noise for all parties involved and to ensure the city is issuing valid permits prior to issuing these permits.

“I really want to emphasize that the intent here is this is an interim solution and I think of it much like a pilot program,” Wilson said, adding that the city would likely need to revisit these regulations in the near future and gather more community feedback.

She said that the goal of the changes was to keep the code largely the same, including the current table of noise limitations, while introducing new exemptions for certain events from these noise limitations.

Wilson said that the noise limitations might need to be changed in the future, but that staff wanted to gather more community feedback before making any changes.

The proposed exemptions would include a blanket exemption for WCU, Wilson said, which holds a number of events that generate significant noise but also serves a key economic driver for the community.

She added that WCU did not request this exemption, which was proposed by city staff, and that WCU is under a planned unit development zoning that sets the precedent that it has special conditions and uses compared to the rest of the community.

She said that the updated ordinance would also include exemptions for venues that primarily function to host performances, like the Gunnison County Fairgrounds or I Bar Ranch.

The final category of exemptions covers events permitted by the city on public properties or public right of ways, Wilson said, which is handled separately in the code from the event permitting concerning alcohol that the city does for events on private property.

She said that events that would receive an exemption would have to demonstrate a “nexus to economic prosperity,” would have to be located in a commercial area or a park, would have to conform with liquor licensing rules, and would have to feature no amplification after 11 pm.

Wilson said that staff recognized that the timing of how late events should run is highly subjective and that this cutoff time might need to be changed in future revisions to the regulations.

She said that the 11 pm cutoff was selected in an attempt to bolster the city’s nightlife and to allow for afterparties following large events that end at 9 pm.

City Attorney Kathleen Fogo said that, while the city code is similar to many other codes in the state, many of those codes have exemption processes similar to what staff were proposing.

Councilor Audrey Zahradka said that, as a person who goes to bed early, she might recommend that the 11 pm cutoff time for amplification be specifically for Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays or Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays and have the cutoff on other days be 9 pm to reduce disruptions.

Mayor Diego Plata said that he agreed with Zahradka but had concerns about events that fall on weekdays due to being on a specific date, such as the 4th of July.

“With the 11 pm provision, we’re defining a pretty hard line in the sand,” Plata said. “I feel like limiting it more will perhaps add to confusion of the applicability of the code and, in some ways, really restrict the ability of events to take place. Yeah, you’re right, ideally not an 11 pm concert on a Monday, but if it’s a… I don’t know. 4th of July just comes to mind.”

Wilson said that Gunnison has some events that go throughout the week and that she believed there could be some challenges with that restriction given that many events, for example, start on Tuesday and end on Saturday.

“I just think about our college town and that’s, like, who I associate with a lot or, like, supervise and that’s a lot of the stuff that they’re missing,” said Mayor Pro Tem Marisela Ballesteros. “And a lot of them are getting ready to go out at like 9:30 and are not able to have fun or like, the fun doesn’t really start until 10 pm or 10:30 pm for a lot of that folk. 

“Again, it’s our college town that we need to like also think about. People are here for four years and during that time what are we providing for them to be excited to stay here other than I can buy a home or maybe start a family but what about themselves can they be excited about where they socialize?”

“Just growing up here, this is something that is… I did not know we were violating codes my whole life, basically. So, I don’t know, I understand but this has been a conversation my whole life and something we went through as younger adults. And, I agree now, like, I don’t really go out a lot … but also, there is a huge population of our town that is missing this and I don’t think that only bars are the only options for them to go and hang out. It should be other things.”

Councilor Loren Ahonen said that the current 7 pm cutoff on amplified noise is likely “egregious” in the other direction, noting that many people in his neighborhood mow their lawns or other activities after 7 p.m.

“Under the premise that it is a trial period … of understanding impacts, I think that there’s opportunity to consider that,” he said. “I hear you loud and clear Audrey but I’m also sort of weighing the balance of enforceability, consistency, which is something we’ve been largely inconsistent, as Mayor Plata knows from personal experience and, as you know, I was the victim of a noise complaint … while Diego was on a ride along. It was five friends sitting in my backyard. So, the reality is there, to your point, of the decibel levels being quite low.

“My broader thought … is that the further we get into the weeds, the harder the scenarios are to enforce consistently or uniformly.”

He said that he personally had questions about the blanket exemption for WCU and whether the college should be obliged to limit noise to some extent to reduce impacts to people who live near the college, “but conceptually, I think that this is the right move.”

Ahonen also raised the issue of how transient noise, like engine brakes on trucks, fits into the noise restrictions.

Wilson said that this was a good example of why a more “holistic” look at the code is needed, which might include introducing a ban on engine brakes in the community. However, she said that staff were hesitant to introduce these into this ordinance and focused it on the current “pinch points.”

Councilor Matt Schwartz said that he was “really pleased” by the staff’s recommended changes, with the awareness that a further public process would be needed in the future.

“I absolutely hate when we have code that we don’t enforce and I think that this helps to solve part of that while still allowing many of our sort of cherished events to continue to take place,” he said.

He added that he looked forward to a future public process on revising the nuisance ordinance.

“I think it’s going to be an interesting process because I think there are going to be a lot of different sides and a lot of different thoughts, but I think we can also find a way with good public comment to find a middle ground for everyone,” he said.

“I think part of it will be … some of the results that we see this summer, in particular around how this pans out via this pilot test,” Plata said. “Because I think, if enough people hear about it being too loud on a Monday at 11 pm, people show up and perhaps weigh in on that side of it, but the opposite could very much be true where college students want to just have some music until 11 pm. And, having grown up in Latin America, where parties start at 11 pm, I’m all for this. Living in Gunnison, and I also got to bed at 8 pm, I can see where a Monday night ragefest isn’t ideal. I think it will be great to see what comes of this pilot, use that data to help inform future decisions and then hear from the community what’s working and what isn’t.”

“I think a lot of that could be also us,” Ballesteros said. “I’ve been speaking a little bit with different community members ‘cause some of them just organically are like ‘We’re coming home after a football game and then we cross Main Street and it’s just dead. Like, why?’ And I’m like, ‘Well, actually, did you know about this nuisance code?’

“And a lot of people are not really, they had no idea that that was the connection as to, like, why a lot of people are quiet during that time or why that’s the culture of, like, we’re quiet during that time. And these are older folks that I’ve been speaking with that come here to visit and they’re trying to find something to do with their kids that they came here to visit. And so, I thought that was interesting and I think a lot of us can also do some of that research too. But yes, finding a process for public input, I look forward to as well.”

Ballesteros said that this discussion might also help residents understand why the community is so quiet in the evenings after events like football games. She added that she looked forward to the public engagement process on the ordinance.

The council then unanimously voted to introduce the ordinance on first reading and move its adoption forward.

At the July 7 meeting, the council made no comments before unanimously voting to adopt Resolution 5, Series 2026 amending Gunnison Municipal Code 5.30, Section 5.30.20, Nuisances Prohibited.