It was an eventful weekend in Vancouver, literally.
The Khatsalano Street Party, Symphony at Sunset, and the Naked Bike Ride all took place this past Saturday (July 8), plus Brewery and the Beast was on Sunday, which meant that the city was teeming with people and sounds.
The noise became a matter of contention for some Vancouver residents who thought things got too loud and took to Twitter to say so.
One local even went so far as to take decibel readings of the Khatsalano Street Party, a popular annual event that shuts down 10 blocks of West 4th Avenue in Kitsilano for music performances, food trucks, vendors, and beer gardens.
According to her readings, the festival was over the limit allowed by the City of Vancouver's special event permit.
"It makes it very difficult to actually hear and enjoy the music when it’s too loud. And now the new beer gardens blast techno-pop at excessive decibel levels that drown out the musicians there to entertain. All I’m asking is to turn it down a few notches," she says in a Tweet.
All special events in Vancouver must comply with the City’s Noise Control Bylaw, which limits how much sound can come from events during set-up, activation and takedown, a spokesperson for the City tells V.I.A.
According to the City’s Special Event Permitting Handbook, sounds should not exceed 75 dB and the reading posted to Twitter alleges the Khatsalano street party was consistently above 85 dB.
However, not everyone online agrees with the noise naysayers. Many locals clapped back on social media, including one Vancouverite who said of the Khatsalano complainer: "Such a bad take, I was there all day and not once thought that it was too loud."
Noise complaints in Vancouver are nothing new. In fact, the City is currently in the midst of revisiting the noise bylaws and has even gone so far as to remove a slide from a Yaletown park because of noise complaints from area residents.
The City says that any noise complaints submitted via the online form on Van311 are directed to the corresponding department for staff to investigate.
"Complaints, and in this case, concerns regarding excess noise, will be shared as part of the City’s debrief conversations with the event organizer," they promise.
How much noise is too much?
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the U.S., prolonged noise above 70 dB may start to damage your hearing, and loud noises above 120 dB can cause immediate harm. (Health Canada provides similar, albeit less comprehensive guidance, which encourages Canadians to take steps to preserve their hearing.)
For perspective, normal conversation volume is approximately 60 dB and a motorcycle engine is approximately 95 dB, but it would take up to 50 minutes of exposure to cause hearing loss.
Whereas the CDC says that exposure to the maximum volume level on personal listening devices, loud radio or television, and loud entertainment such as nightclubs, bars, and rock concerts can cause hearing loss in as little as five minutes but concern over this is very individual.
Along those lines, one Vancouver local posted to Twitter that they were "a lot less concerned about once-a-year street parties than [they were] about year-round motorcycle, truck and construction noise."
The City's noise bylaws
Vancouver residents also experience frustration over leaf blower noise pollution and several efforts have been made to implement bans on certain types. There have been two separate Noise Control By-law amendments (one in 2002 and one in 2004) and a complete ban on the use of leaf blowers in the West End yet complaints still come in.
By April this year, the City of Vancouver had received over 30 noise complaints just regarding the use of leaf blowers.
"Given the changing nature of Vancouver and advances in technology, City staff are currently conducting a fulsome review of the Noise By-Law, which includes the provisions for the use of leaf-blowers in the city," a spokesperson told V.I.A. in a previous statement. "As a part of the first phase of this multi-year project, the City is seeking input from everyone who lives, works or operates a business in Vancouver."
A 10 to 15 minute survey has been posted to their website asking people to share their thoughts on how Vancouver regulates noise and identify areas of improvement.
