In response to a proposal to the city commission that would bump the 10 p.m. enforcement hour to 7 p.m., bar owners, musicians and residents spoke out at city hall Tuesday.
“Music is healing, and I know sometimes it gets loud,” local musician Amy Lynn Dixon told city commissioners. “After the hurricane, the noise from the repair was loud. And it was at 8 a.m….And this is really important. It feels like life or death because for a lot of us it is.”
After hearing arguments that silencing musicians could tank the city’s tourism industry—along with huge impacts to artists and small businesses still recovering from last year’s hurricanes—Mayor Adrian Petrila announced that the city will instead work to better enforce its current ordinance.
He recommended officials take the rest of the year to assess issues and develop a new enforcement plan to test through spring 2026.
And he gave a shout out to local musician Mia Hartley’s new song.
Performer and songwriter Seth Campbell has been pushing back against the proposal since it emerged and wore a decibel meter around his neck during his second turn making public comment. The meter stayed around 68-78 decibels as he urged commissioners to work harder to find a better solution for the beach.
St. Pete Beach’s current ordinance sets a 65-decibel limit during the daytime and 55-decibel limit at night, while also prohibiting most amplified music between 10 p.m.-7 a.m.
The Center for Hearing and Communication notes that rainfall clocks in at 50 decibels while normal conversation comes in at 60 decibels. Thunder is 120 decibels, according to the CHC.
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This article appears in Aug 14-20, 2025.