CARSON : Loud College Concerts Spur Effort for Anti-Noise Law

Spurred by last summer’s noisy concerts at Cal State Dominguez Hills, Carson residents have renewed their effort to create an anti-noise ordinance in the city.

On Tuesday, the city will hold a public hearing on the proposal to modify the ordinance used by Los Angeles County and adopt it in Carson. Similar ordinances have been proposed and rejected at least three times since the city incorporated in 1968.

Some business leaders say that adding regulations will discourage businesses from coming to Carson and enforcing a noise ordinance will be expensive for the cash-strapped city.

But residents who were angered by the profanity and loud music during last year’s Metallica and Lollapalooza concerts at the Dominguez Hills Olympic Velodrome want a way to control loud activities in residential areas, especially at night and on weekends.

Residents also complain that some businesses have noisy loading docks, use booming public address systems or accept deliveries at unreasonable hours.

City staff recommends passing the ordinance because it would set a benchmark to determine whether complaints needed action and would provide a mechanism for punishing noisy companies or residents.

Under the proposed ordinance, first-time offenders would get a written warning and repeat offenders could be fined $500 per day or imprisoned for up to six months or both.

Legislative Counsel Bion M. Gregory said a city anti-noise ordinance would apply to Cal State Dominguez Hills. In the past, campus officials said the college was exempt from municipal laws.

The city also will decide whether to spend nearly $10,000 to buy noise monitoring equipment.