FAIRHOPE, Alabama—Mayor Tim Kant has vetoed a hotly contested change in the noise ordinance passed by the City Council last Monday, which lowered the maximum permitted sound level to 65 decibels.

Unless the veto is overturned by a vote of four council members at its Nov. 14 meeting, the maximum sound level in city residential districts will continue to be 85 decibels from 6 a.m. until 10 p.m.

Noise regulation in Fairhope has become a controversial issue since 2009, pitting several vocal residents against a few local restaurants with outdoor music.

“I urge the City Council to address the issue of music as it pertains to the noise ordinance and create a reasonable solution not just the decibel level,” Kant stated in his Oct. 28 letter vetoing the ordinance.

Council members Mike Ford, Dan Stankoski and Lonnie Mixon voted for the Oct. 24 ordinance, with members Debbie Quinn and Rick Kingrea voting against the measure.

The mayor’s veto was first reported Saturday by WABF 1220 AM.

The veto will not affect any other provisions of the prior ordinance, such as that after 10 p.m. the limit drops to 50 decibels, or that violations are measured from the corner of the residence closest to the source of the sound in a residential district. Nor will the veto affect any exemptions, such as for special city events, or for lawn mowers and leaf blowers.

Opponents of last Monday’s council action created a Facebook page, and the subject has been widely discussed across social media.

"I applaud the mayor's veto and invite him, no make that urge him, to become involved in finding a workable solution to the noise ordinance that is fair to all citizens and our business community," Kingrea stated Monday.