In the past, the Crane Park neighborhood was a very noisy place to live.

But thanks to rule changes implemented by the City of Turlock, nearby residents say the situation has vastly improved.

“It's been a much better summer than any past, to date, because of the changes we made,” said Dan Palmquist, who lives across the street from Crane Park.

The park used to be packed with five bounce houses on every weekend day, each powered by a noisy gas generator. But now, only three bounce houses are allowed on a given day, and each must be powered by a near-silent electric generator.

The changes have their roots in a 2012 proposal by the Turlock Rotary Club to construct a bocce ball court in Crane Park. Neighbors balked at the suggestion, saying the park was already overused, ultimately driving Turlock city staff to draft new park rules limiting the number of bounce houses and banning amplified sound. Those rules went into effect March 1

The Rotary Club eventually gave up on the bocce ball project, after neighbors of three different parks also rejected the amenity.

The Crane Park situation still isn't perfect, Palmquist notes. A number of vendors still noisily hawk their ice cream and chicharrónes every weekend, despite a rule banning them from “announcing” or “calling attention to” their wares.

But, all in all, things are much better, Palmquist said as he lauded the Turlock Parks, Recreation, and Community Programs Commission Wednesday evening.

“I just wanted to thank you for the progress you've made on that,” Palmquist said