New City Music and Outdoor Dining Rules for Tourist Season
Abandoning the application of the “municipal regulation for the control, containment, and reduction of sound emissions,” after the recent approval of the new regulation by the city council, the local administration, led by Mayor Alberto Vedovelli, has now officially introduced the “rules” for playing music during the tourist season through a public meeting held a few days ago.
“In this way,” explained the mayor — “I want to hear the opinion of trade associations to discuss and possibly incorporate proposals before giving the final green light to the application of the new regulation.”
“In practice,” outlined Deputy Mayor Giorgio Bonoldi to the large audience present, composed mainly of bartenders, hotel managers, ice cream shop owners, and various public operators — live music outside venues will be permitted with a limit of 55 decibels until 11:30 PM.
After this hour, music can only be played with the specific authorization of the mayor, on special occasions, and always with a motivated derogation request.
Operators will also need to comply with the regulation by obtaining a certification from specialized companies that guarantees adherence to the imposed decibel limits. To do this, sound systems must be calibrated and restricted to prevent exceeding the permitted noise emissions.
After 11:30 PM, music will only be allowed in bars, pubs, and other venues if doors and windows are kept closed, “to avoid disturbing residents, tourists, and hotel guests, especially in the historic center.” This regulation appears quite restrictive on paper, as 55 decibels is equivalent to the noise level of a conversation at a raised but normal tone, yet in practice “it does not introduce significant changes compared to the past.”
However, this aspect was broadly accepted by operators, who were much more “perplexed” and some even “displeased” about another summer 2000 novelty: the regulations regarding outdoor seating areas.
“In Torri,” Bonoldi further explained, “we have the least restrictive regulation on all the lake’s municipalities. Everywhere else, patrons can only stay at bar tables until one in the morning. After that, customers are ‘encouraged’ to move inside. Until now, in our town, outdoor seating could be used until two in the morning.”
This prompted the idea to “align” with neighboring towns through partial restrictions on the duration of outdoor stays.
From now on, instead of two, bartenders will need to stop serving drinks at outdoor tables by 1:30 AM, and at the same time, they must make patrons move indoors.
This change was met with some dissatisfaction from some of the managers present, who complained about the “difficulty in implementing the regulation,” arguing that “it’s not possible to force customers to move inside to consume a drink, perhaps served just a few minutes earlier,” and that “it’s not possible to prevent them from leaving the premises with glasses in hand after 1:30 AM.”
Following lively discussions, the practical decision was made to enforce the regulation, which in effect reduces outdoor seating time by thirty minutes.
We’ll see, however, if— as seems likely— at least initially, the authorities responsible for enforcing the limits will be inclined to refrain from immediate sanctions in cases of “acceptable and non-recurring delays.”
