But that very well could have been the case if a summer meeting of the Local Planning Agency (LPA) meeting had gone differently. Dunedin business owners and residents packed into city hall on July 29 when faced with proposed changes to the city’s noise and outdoor dining ordinances.
The proposed ordinance’s most significant change to downtown life included language requiring patrons to “vacate” downtown’s outdoor spaces after 11 p.m. Monday-Thursday and midnight Friday-Saturday. Essentially, it could’ve functioned as a kind of an outdoor curfew.
“Downtown cores are meant to be vibrant,” Tina Avíla, owner of Casa Tina’s, said at the LPA meeting. “When we started our restaurant in 1992, that was not the case, except for a few months between Christmas and Mother’s Day. This downtown literally had tumbleweeds.”
For many in the city’s hospitality industry, the hours after 11 p.m. aren’t just a long-awaited respite. It’s also the third wave of business for the downtown economy.
“Quality of life is for everybody, not just those that work nine-to-five or retirees,” Avíla added. “Outdoor seating benefits are valued by the worker and by the business who has made a business plan to put those people’s butts in those seats during those hours.”
After more than three hours of mostly public comment, the LPA ultimately moved to approve a proposed ordinance with modified language that removes the word “vacate.”
On Aug. 1, Dunedin’s City Commission voted 4-1 to approve the revised ordinance at first reading, with modifications including the removal of the word “vacate” after 11 p.m.
“I believe in this ordinance,” Vice Mayor Maureen Freaney said at the Aug. 1 meeting. “Outdoor areas are part of the ambiance of a coastal city.”
Freaney recommended the city review the ordinance regularly in the future to see what’s working.
Commissioner John Tornga was the lone no vote against the ordinance.
“I think we moved awful fast on this,” Tornga said at the meeting. “We might consider letting all of Dunedin make a decision on this.”
Dunedin City Commission will hear a second reading and will most likely vote on the amended ordinance on Thursday, Sept. 5.
The new ordinance laso has a litany of requirements for outdoor seating structures, bathrooms, parking, and noise. The changes impact many of the city’s businesses, except Skip’s dive bar and Dunedin Brewery, whose use and facilities are grandfathered in. If the new ordinance is approved, businesses will have three years to comply with the new requirements.
The other issue is the city’s sound ordinance, which some say was misinterpreted and weaponized against longtime businesses like Dunedin Brewery. The business’ general manager, Michael Lyn Bryant, is the son of owners Kandi and Michael Bryant. Last year, he told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay that he and his staff faced a wave of citations.
“All of a sudden, someone started complaining, and the cops started threatening my staff and managers with tickets,” Bryant said at the time. “The cops started saying that even if they could hear the music from the road, it’s a violation.”
After hearing feedback on the sound ordinance, Dunedin’s city manager worked on new proposed language that hopefully prevents confusion about acceptable decibel levels. The commission will also consider the new language for adoption at its Sept. 5 meeting.
Under the new language, noise violations can only occur if any sound, amplified or not, is measurable at 65 decibels—similar to noise from laughter or a dishwasher—or more from someone’s property line. This matters as lots of mixed-use housing begins saturating areas like Dunedin.
“What is being passed ultimately secures what we already take for granted,” Bryant told CL after last month’s vote.
Dunedin isn’t alone in what can feel like a recurring clash that pops up every few years between residents and businesses in historic downtowns. And since Florida continues to welcome 1,000 new residents a day, fights like these will continue to come up as mixed-use housing creeps up on once-sleepy downtowns across the state. Safety Harbor businesses are being hit with noise violations during the middle of the afternoon, according to WTVT. Similar issues are happening in Gainesville, St. Augustine, Cocoa Beach, and, more recently, Orlando.
Dunedin Mayor Julie Ward Bujalski remembers when she helped in drafting the city’s original 2008 noise and outdoor dining ordinance, which this new language further clarifies.
“All of these years we’ve been eating in the back of Kelly’s (now Crown and Bull), and drinking, and listening to music…what are you going to do, tell everyone they have to leave at 11? It’s been going on since Blur existed,” Bujalski said, alluding to the city’s longtime nightclub and haven for hip-hop open mics and the local LGBTQ+ community.
She contends that the language should’ve been changed years ago, and said the city was actively working on updates to both ordinances over the last two years. She said she understands the frustration of the Bryant family and other business owners caught in the maelstrom.
“Be a good neighbor, it doesn’t have to be this conflict,” she said. “There were a handful of residents that started down this road six years ago and have been attacking businesses and it has been targeted.”
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This article appears in Aug 29 – Sep 4, 2024.