Boulder City Council proposing stricter anti-noise ordinances
In the aftermath of the University Hill Riot that took place near campus last year, Boulder City Council recently released a memo detailing a list of new measures, one of which includes a proposal for a stricter anti-noise ordinance around the Hill.
Sophia Khan
On March 6, 2021, a seemingly harmless block party on the Hill quickly turned into a riot that resulted in 10 arrests and four suspensions alongside a SWAT response by police and tens of thousands of dollars in property damage.
Over a year later, on June 7, a city-led working group sent a memo to the Boulder City Council detailing recommendations they feel will help prevent another riot from occurring again.
One of the proposals that stands out is an amendment to the existing noise ordinance that would give police more authority to issue citations as well as provide them the ability to cite individuals during the daytime. As it stands today, someone can be ticketed for unreasonable noise (being loud enough to be heard from 100 or more feet away) between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m.
Additionally, police currently do not respond to noise violations until a resident calls in with a complaint. The new proposal would allow police to issue citations from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. and issue tickets without first receiving a complaint. This would mean police officers have the ability to issue citations all day long.
These proposals were created through the joint efforts of Boulder city staff as well as the University Hill Revitalization Working Group (HRWG). According to the group’s website, its role is to “pursue a Hill Reinvestment Strategy (HRS) goal to identify funding and governance mechanisms for ongoing improvements on the Hill” and it was founded in 2015.
HRWG meets monthly, and its website also states it is made up of representatives from the Boulder Police and Neighborhood Services, Panhellenic, and the Inter-Fraternity Council (IFC), CU Student Government, Sorority and Fraternity Life and other groups.
Boulder City Council is likely to hold a public hearing on these proposed amendments during the fall once the school year begins and students are back on campus.
This is a developing story and will be monitored and updated as more information from HRWG and Boulder City Council is released.
