SNORE Saga: City police give report on decibel levels near local venue

BRAWLEY – City council members recently received an unexpected update from local police regarding a long-standing noise ordinance discrepancy between mostly elderly residents of Ciudad Plaza and the owner of venue Spot 805 during a recent Brawley City Council meeting.

Carol Goss, a community member and resident of Ciudad Plaza, spoke during public comment on Tuesday, October 3 and addressed the council respectfully as she has done several times before. “It’s been ten months today’s date since I attended the first city council meeting,” she said.

According to Goss, the Brawley Police Department asked residents and SNORE protest participants for permission to access their units in order to take decibel readings needed to quantify what was first presented as a legitimate but then subjective experience back in January. Goss said that all residents agreed to comply with the department’s request as of September 12. However, she said, “I was the only person that kept the agreement.”

Brawley Police Department Community Liaison Unit and Sergeant Michael Garcia was tasked with taking and submitting those readings, and appeared on two separate occasions to gather data at various locations both in and around each property. On Friday, September 29, Garcia took several daytime readings from 10:00 a.m. to 10:25 a.m. at locations including the junction of Highway 111 and Wildcat Drive, the north curb of 600 Main Street, the corner of Highway 86 and Julia Drive, as well as from 300 Main Street. The readings averaged 85.7 dBA, 56.9 dBA, 82.7 dBA, and 69.2 dBA, respectively.

The following day, Garcia returned at night to repeat the process from 10:18 p.m. to 10:37 p.m. It has been noted that previous readings were taken at times where only a DJ was present, and some residents have expressed that the noise issue might have been at its worst during live band performances specifically.

Locations for the evening of Saturday, September 30 included the sidewalk in front of Ciudad Plaza, the north end of the parking lot, inside the lobby at Ciudad Plaza, and the north curb of Main Street directly across, as well as from inside, Spot 805. Readings from this occurrence amounted to an average of 68.2 dBA, 63.8 dBA, 45.2 dBA, 79.7 dBA, and 88.5 dBA, respectively. Garcia’s readings from inside Goss’ apartment registered an average of 64.5 dBA with conversation, and 40.2 dBA without. As shown on a presentation given by Garcia, the highest reading between both days clocked in at about 90.4 dBA taken from inside Spot 805 during a live band performance.

At the start of the council meeting, Goss had expressed discontent that Garcia did not share the information from his readings as he took them on that Saturday. “Had I known I could not see it, I would have refused to let him in my apartment,” Goss said. She said she was cooperative with police, and felt as if they were being secretive by concealing the information. Goss questioned whether or not the police department was in communication with Spot 805, noting that the sound was “up and down” and that perhaps “they knew what was going on.”

Sergeant Garcia addressed her concern during his presentation, noting that he was in plain clothes at the time as he recounted the event.

“What I explained to her was: I have the readings. However, I can’t tell you what they are because I won’t know. There’s just a range,” Garcia said, “and I won’t know until I download it onto the computer and then that gives me an average of the range.”

Shortly after, the other residents who had previously agreed to participate then declined, he said.

“Ultimately, the same day I spoke to Ms. Goss, they reluctantly did not want me to get the readings from their apartment,” Garcia said.

Despite the change of plans, Brawley Chief of Police Jimmy Duran asserted that the ordeal was “a factual mission” intended to “help council make a better decision as far as the ordinance.”

Goss and others still seem to be calling for a revision of the current noise ordinance, as was evident by her final comment to council questioning the age of the current noise ordinance as well as the date of its most recent update.

“We went and gathered as much information as we could, in an unbiased manner and I think we accomplished that…,’ Duran said.

All information gathered and presented on multiple dates will be handed over to the city manager in order to determine next steps, city personnel stated.

Sarina E. Guerra

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