From: Sandra Sakwa
Sent: Monday, June 15, 2026 1:58 PM
To: City Council <[email protected]>
Subject: Barlow Events – The Barlow Market
Dear City Council Members,
I have lived on Taft Street in downtown Sebastopol for 39 years My husband and I love it here.
I am writing because we are very concerned about an advertised event that is scheduled to take place at the Barlow event center on June 20th.
I have included a link to the event at the bottom of this email. I hope you will take the time to look at all of the information including the poster and the description of the event. The advertised time of the event is from 8pm until 2am!
The description clearly describes the intent to include pounding baselines, deejays and loud music. Until 2am!
We understand that living in town includes so many benefits like easy walking access to the wonderful businesses, coffee shops and restaurants that add so much to our lives. The trade off is increased traffic and noise from things like the parade, the high school, the fireworks etc. and we have never complained about any inconvenience because these are the things that make our little community special.
We know and accept that living in town means that there will be some noise and we are very tolerant of that fact. We also know that the noise ordinance states that after 10pm the noise levels should decrease substantially. (Thank you for including the noise ordinance on the city website)
As soon as I learned about this event I reached out to both Planning and Public Works to find out about event permitting and informed them about my concerns regarding this specific event. They didn’t seem to know anything about the event at first and it took several weeks to get a definitive answer.
Everyone said that they were not involved with events that take place at the Barlow. One staff person at Public Works was extremely polite and helpful in searching out answers to some of my questions and getting back with me.
It appears also that the Sebastopol Police Department knew nothing about it which seems odd since it certainly might have an effect on them on Saturday June 20th. They are the ones who will receive calls and complaints if the noise level is unbearable to the neighbors of the Barlow after 10pm. Plus events that invite the use of alcohol and substances of any kind can require extra vigilance on the part of the police.
Is there a fine or some other repercussion for breaking the law by ignoring the ordinance? And who exactly is responsible to monitor the types of events that take place in our city, including at the Barlow?
Whose responsibility is it to inform the police of special events that could require staffing increase.
Shouldn’t the Barlow be required to include highlighted information about the city noise ordinance in their contract with event promoters? Especially an event that goes until 2 in the morning!
And how will problems like this be prevented in the future? Having ordinances and laws will not work unless they are enforced.
Most important at the moment is what to do about this event which is less than one week away. I am being told just to call the police if the noise level is unbearable. What a terrible way to deal with a problem that could have been avoided and prevented! At least someone at the city who has a relationship with the Barlow management should contact them and make sure the event promoter is aware of the noise ordinance.
Isn’t it better to prevent a problem rather than deal with it after the fact? So now I am reaching out to ask your help.
I look forward to hearing from you
Sandra Sakwa
https://thebarlow.net/pages/calendar
Sent from my iPhone