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New Orleans Department of Safety & Permits: Businesses in most of city can't host outdoor live music
In June, the New Orleans City Council passed a motion directing the City Planning Commission to consider new restrictions on outdoor dining and live entertainment in various parts of Faubourg Marigny, Bywater and Tremé. That prospect has been controversial itself, but the process has unearthed a citywide issue: Are New Orleans bars and restaurants allowed to host outdoor live entertainment on a regular basis?
According to a recent interpretation of the city’s zoning laws by the Department of Safety and Permits, the answer — for everywhere in the city but the French Quarter — is no. A provision in the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance requires businesses to close their doors and windows during all live performances.
“Windows and doors shall be closed during live entertainment performances and compliance with the City of New Orleans Noise Ordinance is required.”
—New Orleans Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance, Section 20.3.JJ.5
—New Orleans Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance, Section 20.3.JJ.5
“There are no doors and windows to close outdoors,” the Music and Culture Coalition of New Orleans noted in a Facebook post earlier this month. So in most cases, that means no live entertainment, at least as far as the Department of Safety and Permits is concerned. The Music and Culture Coalition, which advocates for the city’s musicians and artists, called the department’s interpretation of the law “arbitrary and flawed.”
“I get the sense that no one knew this was the ruling,” Ethan Ellestad, the executive director of the Music and Culture Coalition of New Orleans, told The Lens. “It looks like City Council didn’t know about it, City Planning didn’t know about it. … I’ve never seen it discussed publicly. I was totally blown away when I heard about this. And I would suggest that there are few people that follow this stuff as much as I do.”
Read more: https://thelensnola.org/2019/08/16/new-orleans-department-of-safety-and-permits-businesses-in-most-of-city-cant-host-outdoor-live-music/