After a petition with more than 9,000 signatures, national news coverage, a satire piece in the Beaverton and a noisy flash mob, town council has scrapped proposed changes to the town’s noise bylaw.

The proposed changes would have seen enforcement of any noise above 55 decibels in Niagara-on-the-lake, between the hours of 11 a.m. and 9 p.m.

Lord Mayor Betty Disero told councillors at Monday’s committee of the whole meeting that the whole draft bylaw needed to be tossed out, noting no changes to the current draft would have calmed residents down.

Instead, council will focus on enforcement of its current noise bylaw.

Councillors agreed, as the decision was unanimous to scrap the draft changes.

Disero said now it’s about focusing on how to positively move forward.

A workshop will be held at a future council meeting, where staff will “help councillors to better understand the current noise bylaw and provide a formal report outlining enforcement challenges,” said a town news release.

“There was such a strong reaction from the community that Council felt it best to calm the waters and take this off the table,” stated Disero. 

“Our focus now will be on how we will enforce the existing noise bylaw.”