Innisfil council didn’t make a sound about changes to the town’s noise bylaw.
Proposed delegated authority amendments to the noise bylaw were presented to councillors at the Feb. 14 meeting. Bylaw 010-24 will need to be passed at a future meeting to enshrine the changes.
Once that happens, any request for a noise bylaw exemption in a commercial area will require council’s approval. This will allow “public input before an application can be decided upon by council,” the staff report indicated.
Coun. Rob Saunders brought the item forward at the Oct. 11 council meeting. His motion noted that it was common for commercial properties to “make application for a noise exemption permit to host events where live music or other amplified sound may occur,” and that “residential properties near commercial and other non-residential locations have an interest in noise levels and exemption permits approved on these lands.”
The noise bylaw passed in 2022 outlined a process to apply for an exemption permit. Staff used the amendments passed in 2016 as their basis for approving or denying any request for an exemption, on a case-by-case basis. Staff’s investigation included looking for any noise concerns on the property and mitigating or aggravating factors. All decisions were explained on the town’s website.
Since 2019, 13 exemption requests have come from commercial areas, accounting for 25 per cent of the approvals issued by staff, eight of which came in 2023.
“While it is difficult for staff to forecast, it is expected that as the town continues to grow, so will the number of requests for exemptions under the bylaw,” the report stated, later adding, “Applications requiring council approval will take longer to process and may result in delays for businesses or events.”
Staff’s best practice will be to include any request on the agenda of the next available council meeting.
The fee per noise exemption is $387.30, due only if the application is approved.
In the report, staff told council the proposed amendment to the noise bylaw will "allow greater transparency and public input on noise exemption permits for commercial/business purposes.”
