Ybor City at dusk. Credit: Michael M. Sinclair

Representatives of Mayor Jane Castor’s administration have recommended against creating another entertainment district in Tampa, following controversy over a law that targeted noise levels in Ybor City and other entertainment districts.

Last year, the City of Tampa’s legal team and Tampa Police Department pushed the law, which banned all amplified sound in Ybor after midnight and removed a requirement for cops to issue warnings to establishments before fining them for noise violations. The ordinance also affected the Channelside area and parts of South Tampa, where nightlife is vibrant.

Tampa City Council initially approved the law, but it was repealed in March after outcry about its constitutionality from residents and business owners—especially those in Ybor.

Instead, city council suggested that a new entertainment district could be created, which would be less subject to strict noise standards.

But in a memo sent this month, Senior Assistant City Attorney Susan Johnson-Velez and Abbye Feeley, Deputy Administrator for Development and Growth Management, now say that creating a new party district is not the way to go.

“At the present time, staff does not recommend taking any further action in relation to amending Chapter 14 or establishing a special district for alternative sound standards,” Johnson-Velez and Feeley wrote in a memo.

Chapter 14 of the city’s charter discusses standards for noise violations. Before the law that was passed and then repealed last year, Tampa already had a noise ordinance in its charter.

In Ybor specifically, it is against city law for an establishment to make “unreasonably excessive noise” with a threshold of 87db from 6 p.m.-3 a.m., which is roughly the sound of a noisy restaurant. For the rest of the hours of the day, that number drops to 75db, or about the level of noise a vacuum cleaner makes.

While most people who spoke at council last year were against a stronger noise ordinance in Ybor, some residents, especially those who were newer to the district, complained about the noise, mainly from the rooftop bars in the area.

Councilman Bill Carlson, who motioned to explore the potential of a new entertainment district, said today that Ybor is changing and that new options have to be explored.

“As Ybor is turning back into a neighborhood, and as the neighborhoods around South Howard push to convert that district to a culinary district, instead of a party district, we need to find an area for an entertainment district if we’re going to keep young people in our community,” Carlson told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay. “We can’t not have one.”

Carlson said that he wants the city to work together to find a place where they can put a new district. “I’m disappointed that staff has not come up with an answer. So now it will be up to city council and find the solution,” Carlson added.

He said that a band playing at his establishment is just as much an expression of art and free speech as anything else in Ybor, and should be treated as such.

Tom DeGeorge, owner of Crowbar and longtime resident of Ybor, questioned who is behind the push to move the area away from being Tampa’s major entertainment district.

“There are plenty of people that view Ybor City as a party district,” DeGeorge told CL. “And then there are developers that want to change it from being an entertainment district. So, you know, depending on how you look at it, it’s like, does the city run the city, or do the developers run the city?”

DeGeorge pointed out that Ybor’s entertainment businesses were in place for decades, but said that they are being forced out, because developers who “want to change the entire footprint of the area” are coming in.

“And if the city doesn’t put things in place to protect those businesses, you get bullied out,” DeGeorge said.

He added that anyone moving to Ybor should be aware of the culture there, and that it can get loud, especially at night. He said that a band playing at his establishment is just as much an expression of art and free speech as anything else in Ybor, and should be treated as such.

City staff’s memo did reference Tampa growing and becoming “more urban each day.” But added that balancing everyone’s wants and needs from the city “often becomes a challenge which requires a sensitive balance.”

Staff held three public meetings about the subject in 2022, not in entertainment districts but instead in North Tampa, West Tampa and East Tampa. Of 44 people surveyed at the meetings, the responses were mainly complaint oriented, the city said. The main noise concerns included outdoor amplified sounds and noise limits in Ybor, the process of filing noise complaints to TPD, the city said.

In the memo, the city also shared numbers for noise complaints and citations in recent years.

In 2021, 7,560 noise complaints were made, with 178 citations given. Last year saw 6,548 complaints with 50 citations issued, a major decrease from the year before.

This article appears in Feb 16-22, 2023.