Shem Creek restaurants say they will follow noise ordinance

MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. (WCSC) - The Mount Pleasant Police Department says their noise data shows restaurants in Shem Creek receive the most amount of noise complaints.

Restaurants like The Shelter, Saltwater Cowboys and Red’s were on the list of noise complaints from the department.

Meanwhile, the city’s council approved a second reading to repeal and replace the current noise ordinance Tuesday night. With this new ordinance in question, the restaurants say they are going to keep the way they monitor noise levels the same.

Saltwater Cowboys and Red’s say they have their own decibel readers that help monitor their DJs and live music. They use these to try and prevent getting in trouble for excessive noise.

With this new ordinance, specific decibels cannot be exceeded. It states noise cannot exceed 60db between the hours of 8 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. or exceed 55db between the evening hours of 10:30 p.m. to 8 a.m. Penalties for violators include up to a $500 fine or 30 days in jail.

Mason Mims, a bartender at The Shelter, says they try to monitor where they have bands play depending on the time of day on the weekends.

“In general, if we’re playing music during the day, we kind of have it outside because it’s a little more scenic and all that stuff,” Mims said. “But there’s no noise ordinance in the afternoon, per se. We try to be respectful of others like residential areas and obviously the other restaurants. So, we try to have them facing towards the restaurant instead of towards like the rest of Shem Creek.”

All three restaurants say they are more than willing to follow any guidelines from the city to make sure they are following the rules and aren’t bothering nearby residents.

Click here to view the Mount Pleasant noise ordinance that will be going to its second hearing.

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