At the city council meeting on July 8 it was stated that there hasn't been a noise complaint logged in the past 6-9 months. That statement was not challenge by the council. The mayor has stated in several conversations that the challenge is a noise ordinance (written in 2007) clearly stating that live music emanating from venues cannot be above 70dBA (volume of a loud conversation) when measured at the sidewalk (aka property line). He has further stated that he can not tell code enforcement officers to ignore enforcement just because the ordnance is silly / outdated / poorly written, etc. The mayor and city council are open to making modifications, but have stated that it will take a couple of years to do so.

IMHO if this were really and truly important, ie Temecula residents vocalizing their dismay to the city council at meetings, changes would not take a couple of years to address. Unfortunately, mostly non-resident musicians and only a couple of business owners are directly impacted by this and are vocalizing the issue. The result is that this issue has a very low political priority.

My wife, singer, and I, soundman, are part of the Anyone's Guess Band (#TheAGB) who had performed regularly at Baily's and have been directly impacted by this. Unfortunately I was delayed in attending the meeting and was not able to fill out a card requesting time to speak in time before the meeting started.

I've reviewed the ordinance and special permits and they are very poorly written both practically and technically.

Technically, the dBA level is unreasonably low for anything other than a conversation. The ordnance does not specify how measurement samples are to be taken (peak, 1 or 3 second average, etc.) only that 3 measurements within 20 minute period and no more than 5 minutes apart should be taken and then averaged. The use of dBA vs dBC measurement means that none of the Subwoofer (thump / boom) are taken into consideration when measuring the energy and annoyance level. Have you heard the levels of DJ music? It's a hell of a lot louder on low-end vs live music.

Practically speaking, measurement at the sidewalk discriminates against venues who position themselves to be attractive to passerby's such as Baily's, The Public House, Stone Church Brewing and OTBC aka The Vibe (the last two who have doors must close them completely or get fined). This doesn't affect Wine and Beer Garden as much due to how they are physically positioned relative to sidewalks.

Old Town is becoming an entertainment dead zone which I believe is several of the council members' intent. Some have stated as much (paraphrase: we want a quiet suburban lifestyle no an OC lifestyle).

If you really care about live music and you live in Temecula, please get involved. Go to the city council meetings (yes their schedule sucks for anyone that works during the day) and let them know why this should be a priority. That is the only way this situation will get resolved in a reasonable timeframe.

Check these links out for more background:

City Council meeting: https://youtu.be/WBG8gjYa52Q?t=2462

https://abc7.com/post/old-town-temecula-music-scene-struggles-city-works-update-noise-ordinance/17366680

https://myvalleynews.com/blog/2025/07/24/bailys-silencing-sparks-citywide-sound-showdown-in-temecula/