Pacific Grove business owners want an old law changed to allow for more music downtown.

Hops and Fog Brewing Co. owner Mike Durrant is part of downtown Pacific Grove’s nighttime renaissance from a sleepy business district to a place where music flows regularly from small bands or DJs. It’s attracting new patrons—and their wallets— to the city.

“We’re changing. The town is coming to life for the first time ever,” Durrant says, adding that the music is drawing people from all over the county looking for entertainment.

Durrant and his business partner, Ximena Waissbluth, opened the brewery last year, instantly becoming a hot spot. They regularly host music events, as well as gatherings that spread out across the downtown area, like the first-ever P.G. Santa Con in December, where people dressed in holiday attire and visited multiple businesses, and the upcoming Lepre-Con on Lighthouse on Saturday, March 15, where people are encouraged to sport Irish green for a pub crawl.

While Durrant has good relationships with nearby Hops and Fog neighbors, other business owners he partners with for events have struggled with noise complaints. In the last six months there have been at least 12 code enforcement complaints related to downtown music, according to P.G. City Manager Matt Mogensen.

Music was part of what helped downtown businesses stay afloat during the pandemic. The city allowed more outdoor music at the time to help draw customers to the outdoor dining parklets. More recently, noise complaints have become a bigger issue.

Owners say the challenge is that the city’s code regarding music at establishments where alcohol is served limits noise to 70 decibels. It’s about the same level as a normal conversation. According to a decibel comparison chart by Yale Environmental Health and Safety, chamber music in a small auditorium rises to 75-85db. 

P.G. Councilmember Joe Amelio is proposing to raise the decibel level to 80; Durrant says he’d prefer 85-90. Amelio’s proposal is scheduled to be heard by the P.G. City Council at 6pm on Wednesday, March 19 at City Hall (and also online).

The current P.G. ordinance sets an impossible standard for music venues to follow, says restaurateur Liz Jacobs, who co-owns Wild Fish with her husband Kelvin just up the block from Durrant. Up until last year their restaurant featured a jazz quartet outside in a parklet. The music drew numerous complaints over the last few years. 

“It’s impossible to stay at 70 decibels,” Jacobs says. “It’s setting up businesses to fail.” 

Last year, the P.G. City Council voted to switch from parklets to sidewalk dining, and the city extended some sidewalks and added low fences to enclose eating areas. The new setup doesn’t leave room for musicians.

The problem, Jacobs says, is that a smaller group of people are demanding that P.G. remain quiet. 

“In downtown you don’t want it to be a boring suburb, you want it to be vibrant,” she says. A change in the ordinance would give businesses more leeway.