Noise levels at the Sweetlife Festival at Merriweather Post Pavilion over the weekend have left some Howard County officials searching for why residents as far away as Ellicott City reported hearing intense sounds from the Columbia venue.
On May 30 and 31, the Sweetlife Festival featured popular music artists, including Kendrick Lamar, Bill Idol and Calvin Harris.
Following legislation passed in 2013, the venue is required to operate at 95 decibels within a quarter-mile radius from 9 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., and the noise must stay at a 72.5 decibel level at residential property lines outside that radius.
Dunloggin resident Angie Boyter said she was able to hear the noise from her home even after closing her windows.
"One of my neighbors said the beat made her house vibrate," Boyter said. "We're far enough away that we shouldn't have this. Locally, I think we're catering too much to Merriweather Post Pavilion."
After calling Howard County police, Boyter was forwarded to the Bureau of Environmental Health, where she was told that many others had already filed reports.
Lisa de Hernandez, public information officer for the bureau, said health inspectors were at the Sweet Life event Sunday, finding decibels readings within the legislation's standards. The bureau is working with police and Merriweather to figure out why the noise only affected certain areas of the county.
"Sometimes, weather has a part to play," Hernandez said. "We don't know at this point. Right now, we're trying to figure out why it was so loud in one part of the county. Was it because of where the stages were? Was it because of the low cloud cover? Was it because of the way the wind was blowing? We don't know."
According to the Howard County Executive Allan Kittleman's office, decibel levels at Merriweather are usually within the required range and there may not be a citable violation even though the sounds seem louder than usual.
"The 'Sweetlife Festival' was a sweet lie this past weekend in its profound abuse of our commons and soundspace, as these continue to devolve for our children, grandchildren, seniors and all the rest of us in Downtown Columbia and its wide environs," downtown Columbia resident Laura Mueller said in an email early Monday morning.
From noon to 11:09 p.m. Saturday and noon to 11:01 p.m. Sunday, Mueller said electronic low frequencies reached 94 decibels, according to her noise level readings, despite living over a mile from the venue.
Mueller said a police officer later took decibel readings behind an apartment building, which Mueller believed to shield the high sound levels. She also attributed Merriweather's "chaotic high-impact and low-frequency assaults" to two car alarms that sounded late Sunday evening near her home in Vantage Point.
Hernandez said the investigation into the loud noise is ongoing and "appears to be a one-off for many, many, many people."
Merriweather staff could not be immediately reached for comment.