MIAMI -- The owners of a popular Miami Beach nightclub have lost an appeal to a 1996 noise ordinance that cost the owners thousands of dollars in fines.

The United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit recently issued a ruling upholding a decade-old noise ordinance sponsored by Miami-Dade County Commissioner Javier Souto.

"The purpose of the noise ordinance is to protect the quality of life, peace, and tranquility of all of the residents of our county," said Souto.

The owners of Opium Garden, an open-air nightclub located on South Beach, challenged the ordinance, which made provisions against "unnecessary and excessive" noise between the hours of 11 p.m. and 7 a.m.

The law also made it a violation if noise is audible within a distance of 100 feet from the building where it's generated.

The club operators argued the language of the ordinance was "vague and violated due process under the Fourteenth Amendment."

After evaluating the arguments, the U.S. Court of Appeals determined that the noise ordinance and the city's enforcement provisions passed constitutional muster.

Specifically, the Court ruled that the ordinance is content-neutral and contains permissible time, place and manner restrictions.

Souto, who sponsored the ordinance, said its intent is to regulate "excessive" noise generated from all kinds of sources, including: horns, signaling devices, radios, televisions, loudspeakers, power tools and landscaping equipment.

Souto said he was grateful the appellate court has upheld the ordinance, which cost Opium Garden thousands of dollars in fines between 2001 and 2005.

"This is not a total ban on music or other sounds; it only restricts the volumes of devices so as not to intrude on the lives of neighborhood residents or affect the comfort involuntary hearers," said Souto.