New Bonner County ordinance dials back the tunes

Boaters on Bonner County waters may have to dial back the tunes this year.

In September the Bonner County commissioners passed an ordinance prohibiting boaters from playing music or otherwise making noise that can be heard from 200 feet away.

The fine for excessive noise is $75.

Eric Johnson owns a lake cabin on Pend Oreille. He said noise from partying boaters could get so bad sometimes that he wouldn’t be able to sleep. And he said he wasn’t alone.

“There were many hundreds of people who were growing frustrated,” Johnson said.

Prior to the new ordinance the county had no law governing noise on the water, said Commissioner Dan McDonald. A marine deputy who received a complaint didn’t have the authority to write a citation. Instead, they would have to call a land-based deputy who would then need to write the citation. This cumbersome system meant noise complaints were essentially unenforced.

“I think it was an oversight,” he said. “The intent on this was of course not to make it so no one could play music on the water.”

McDonald said the new ordinance gives deputies some wiggle room. If a boat is just passing by, McDonald said, the deputies may choose not to cite them.

Instead he hopes the ordinance specifically targets boaters who park and party in front of lakeside homes.

“We would have these wakeboard boats with the big towers pull up and anchor in front of someone’s property blasting music,” he said. “As is typical with most things, a few people kind of ruined it for everyone else.”