The Columbus City Council voted Monday to modify the existing noise ordinance, opting for a distance-based system rather than a decibel-based system.

The new ordinance, makes a “noise disturbance” a misdemeanor if audible 50 feet from a home in a residential neighborhood or 25 feet in an apartment building.

Within a residential neighborhood where houses are closer than 50 feet together, the law prohibits excessive noise which is audible 25 feet onto the adjacent property.

Response to the new ordinance has been mixed. Many residents are worried about its enforcement.

“People are getting a little concerned about the application of the legislation and its enforcement,” said Robert Chilton, a legislative aide to Columbus councilwoman Charleta Tavares.

Chilton said the law needed to be changed because it was unclear.

“In different areas, officers were enforcing it in different ways. We used to use the ‘decibel system,’ and now we use the ‘distance system.’ We had to have something that is standardized,” he said.

The ordinance will provide the City of Columbus Police Department a strengthened legal authority to issue citations to violators.

A first offense would be a minor misdemeanor, and a second offense, a fourth-degree misdemeanor, could result in a $250 fine and up to 30 days in jail.

Willie Young, Director of Off-Campus Student Services, is excited about the new ordinance. He said it will promote a better off-campus neighborhood and better studying from its residents.

“It will be good in terms of making the neighborhood a better place to live. Our private residents are very happy,” Young said.

According to Young, the best part about the ordinance is the universal application of the law.

“The University District will not be treated any differently than a neighborhood in Bexley,” Young said.

Students have voiced concerns to both Chilton and Young’s offices about the application of the ordinance.

Young has dealt with many problems about noise over the years and has fielded many questions since the ordinance passed.

The University District is expected to be among the most highly enforced areas in the city, because students and off-campus parties have a tendency to be loud and occasionally raucous.

However, Tavares said she wants students to know the ordinance is not targeting them.

“It has nothing to do with one area of the city over another,” she said.

Tavares said she believes that concerns are unwarranted.

“It probably strengthens the law in some people’s minds because it standardizes, but that is not accurate,” she said.

While the law does not expressly intend to make the noise regulations in the city more stringent, the implication is there will be greater application of the ordinance and a more active police presence regarding the law.

While commercial businesses subscribe to their own noise laws, businesses in predominately residential neighborhoods could hypothetically be affected by the law.

If a campus bar were audible 25 feet from an apartment complex, that business would be asked to maintain “good neighborhood” behavior and be held liable under the ordinance.