Selectmen Looking for Noise Input Monday Night

Hampton selectmen are heavily seeking public input Monday on proposed changes to the town's entertainment ordinance, which was called into question during recent controversy surrounding outdoor music at a Hampton Beach business.

Noise has been a hotly-debated issue in recent years at Hampton Beach, and a petitioned warrant article in 2012 sought to heavily restrict noise and create new requirements for entertainment in order to quell what some perceived was an out-of-control issue in residential areas.

That article was amended at the 2012 deliberative session, though, limiting its scope and effectively making it not passable by the voting body on election day. Because of some of the discussions surrounding noise related to that article and the events that led to it, as well as discussions during the evaluation of the entertainment license for Bernie's Beach Bar, selectmen have scheduled a public hearing for 7 p.m. on Monday to fully vet the issue and possible courses of action.

"In addition to addressing the specific issue of noise, we would like to entertain a broad discussion, which guides us in a direction the community wants for entertainment restrictions, if any," said Chairman Dick Nichols in an e-mail.

Nichols said potential discussion items for Monday's public hearing are as follows:

1. Do we want any restrictions? Or is noise an acceptable byproduct of living in a resort area?
2. What noise level is acceptable vs. not acceptable, How do we keep what works while controlling what doesn’t?
3. If we want restrictions should they be the same all over Town; or should the Beach area have another standard.
4. Are you in favor of different restrictions on outdoor locations, where sound mitigation from the enclosure of a building is limited.  If so, are you in favor of different restrictions on outside entertainment that are based on the type of entertainment, amplified live bands versus a solo acoustical solo performer, and/or time of day 9:00 pm vs 11:00 PM vs 1:00 PM.
5. Should the BOS have the ability to grant exceptions for some future special event?