Jim Thorpe Borough officials said Thursday night they plan to continue discussion on an ordinance to set guidelines for musicians, street entertainers and film crews early in 2025.

A discussion at borough council’s most recent workshop highlighted issues encountered with street performers in recent months, especially around noise levels, complaints from residents and enforcement of existing regulations.

“I know it happened recently a few times where a musician was playing and someone complained that they were too loud,” Borough Manager Maureen Sterner said. “They were asked to turn it down …(The performer) turned it down and when the police officer left, they turned it back up.”

Sterner suggested introducing a provision that would allow officers to enforce stricter measures if multiple complaints are received, potentially revoking permits after a second complaint.

Current regulations allow police to cite for unreasonable noise under the state’s disorderly conduct statute. However, Councilman Mike Yeastedt admitted that the subjective nature of “unreasonable” noise complicates enforcement, as different people may interpret it in various ways.

“If we were to term unreasonable, we could all take it slightly differently, and that puts the officers in a difficult position,” he added.

The current proposed solution includes requiring musicians and street performers to get permits that could be more easily revoked or not renewed in cases of repeated noise violations.

“I don’t know if you want to do cheap $15 permits for the whole year,” said Sterner, adding that introducing shorter-term permits could allow for more frequent renewals and reviews. She suggested structuring the permits similarly to vendor permits, where repeat violations could lead to nonrenewal.

“If someone’s going to be rude enough to not have consideration for the residents and the business owners ... then you don’t want them back anyway,” she said.

Law enforcement officials have been kept busy in recent months.

“We’re getting noise complaints all the time,” Jim Thorpe Police Officer Kyle Kohler said. “A lot of the musicians are being hired by businesses to play near the entrance and help bring people in. I’ve never had someone not comply when I go out and ask them to turn it down. They usually do, but the next day I’m right back there again. But until we have something more streamlined in place as an ordinance, our hands are tied to a certain degree.”

Looking ahead, council members agreed to revisit the ordinance in January. Kohler suggested having a police officer present at that meeting to provide firsthand insight into the types of issues officers encounter when enforcing the noise ordinance.

“We can tell you firsthand what we deal with, how many times we deal with it, where they are, [and] what kind of instrument … whether it be an acoustic guitar, electric guitar, (or) saxophones,” he said. “We have everyone you can imagine.”