Whether the Christmas music coming from a downtown business is holiday cheer or an anti-homeless campaign, one thing is clear: it’s illegally loud.

The tinny Christmas carols blaring from speakers at the corner of South Tejon Street and East Pikes Peak Avenue are about 20 decibels louder than allowed by Colorado Springs city code, according to two enforcement officers who measured the sound Friday morning.

The music started playing in early December and the loud sound and repetitive songs have driven some of the homeless who hang out in the area to near madness.

“Please, for the love of God, make it stop,” Thomas O’Reilly, a homeless man, said last week. He said that the music had thinned the crowds that typically congregate on the corner. 

Building owner Randy Case said last week said the music was meant to be festive. Other business areas around the city play holiday music, but they don’t seem as loud as Case’s music.

In commercial areas like downtown, the noise limit is 60 decibels from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and 55 decibels overnight. Anything louder than that, according to city code, is considered “excessive and unusually loud and is unlawful.”

On Friday morning about 9 a.m., code enforcement officer Joe Niski measured out 25 feet from the speakers (as required) and used a sound meter to see just how loud the music was. Some songs weren’t so bad. ‘White Christmas,’ for example came in at about 65 decibels.

Most of the other songs, like “12 Days of Christmas” and “Deck the Halls” were much louder, coming in around the low 80s range of decibels with some parts of the songs registering much louder.

“That would be too high,” he said, speaking loudly to be heard over the music.

Case, who changed the playlist a bit from the initial loop of seven songs, said Friday he was unaware the music was too loud and he had not heard from code enforcement officers.

Typically code enforcement officers investigate commercial sound in residential areas, such as construction crews starting too early or trash trucks being too loud. When it comes to loud music coming from a business or a house, that’s usually in the purview of the police, said Loren Zimmerman, a senior code enforcement officer.

But police officers usually investigate loud parties or bars, not Christmas carols, he said.

“I’ve never had to deal with anything like this,” Zimmerman said.

He and Niski plan to refer the case to the police department to determine what, if anything, should be done. Zimmerman noted that he saw people who were walking by singing with the music and, in general, enjoying it.

If Lane Williams has any say about it, the music will keep playing just as loud as it is.

Williams owns Lane Mitchell Jewelry, which is in the same building the speakers are attached to. He came out Friday to ask the code enforcement officers not to turn down the music.

The homeless and other loiterers outside have defecated on his steps and caused his employees to fear for their lives, Williams told the officers. His customers, who may spend thousands of dollars at the jewelry store, are often uncomfortable coming there and he often escorts them to their vehicles.

He has complained at city council meetings and calls police whenever things get really bad. Despite his efforts, dozens of people hang out outside his business every day – at least until the music started. There were dozens of loiterers before Case began pumping holiday music to the masses, but many have since cleared out, Williams said. Even if the music wasn’t meant to deter the people hanging out outside his business, that’s what it is doing.

And he couldn’t be happier.

“This is the only thing that has ever made any difference to lessen the impact,” he said. “I don’t know what to do after Christmas.”

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Contact Maria St. Louis-Sanchez: 636-0238

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