Long Beach moves closer to restricting ice cream truck music

The city of Long Beach moved closer Tuesday night to regulating the high-end chimes of ice-cream trucks.

The City Council unanimously voted on a measure that would require ice cream truck vendors to comply with the noise ordinance and prohibit them from playing music while serving customers.

Councilman Dee Andrews introduced the measure after years of complaints from residents in his district, which includes the Sunrise, Whittier, Wrigley and South Wrigley neighborhoods.

“I want to state for the record, I do like ice cream and I enjoy ice cream trucks,” Andrews said. “We just have to strike a balance of the needs of our neighbors for peace and quiet and the business needs to sell ice cream.”

The issue brought additional scrutiny on the operations of ice cream trucks.

Councilwoman Gerrie Schipcke inquired whether the trucks were being inspected enough.

“They look like they’ve been put together by spit and glue,” Schipcke said.

Councilwoman Suja Lowenthal inquired whether there was enough enforcement regarding what products the vendors were selling. She also joked about whether there was a way to prevent them from circling neighborhood blocks more than once.

The ordinance created some confusion among ice cream truck vendors, who thought they were being banned from the city.

“What else can you deduce when you read news reports about the last days of an ice cream man?” said Nestor Zea, 61, of Long Beach. “We were really worried.”

Several other vendors said they understand how residents feel. Some have already begun turning off their iconic songs after receiving complaints.

The problem, Zea said, is that the vendors are not organized. There are no routes they follow and they don’t communicate much. Sometimes, he said, he’s seen more than three ice cream trucks on one street with music playing.

“I try to tell them, ‘If there’s going to be three of you guys on a street, at least have [just] one truck playing music,’ ” Zea said. “But that’s just me advising them.”

Ismael Hernandez of Long Beach said many vendors are not happy about the possible music restrictions. Hernandez said he’s worried that if vendors are parked but no one can hear the music, customers won’t come.

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