Lazaro Aleman
ECB Publishing, Inc.
County officials have been presented with a revised and more stringent noise ordinance that they expect to take up for consideration in early 2022.
The draft document, which County Attorney Scott Shirley introduced to the Jefferson County Commission in early December, is scheduled for a workshop at 5 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 20.
At the December meeting, Shirley gave the commissioners a preview of the ordinance.
The yet unnamed and unnumbered ordinance, which is more specific and detailed than its previous counterpart, applies to all properties within the county, unless a property or parcels is specifically exempted by policy, ordinance, temporary-use permit or a special exception that sets alternative sound requirements.
In the definition section of the ordinance, it distinguishes between A-weighted and C-weighted sound levels.
The two are defined as sound pressure levels in decibels, as measured with a sound level meter using either the A or C-weighting network, as defined by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI).
Meanwhile, a decibel (dB) is defined as the standard unit for measuring the relative intensity of sound.
The ordinance establishes the maximum permissible sound levels that may be produced in interchange business (IB) and industrial (IND) land-use districts. Between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m., sound is not regulated in either zone. Between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m., however, sound is limited to 55 dB (A) or 65 dB (C).
Per the ordinance, sound reaching residential and non-residential properties outside the IB and IND land-use districts should not be higher than the following decibel levels:
For residential properties, the sound is limited to 55 dB (A) or 65 dB (C) between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. The sound is limited to 50 dB (A) or 60 dB (C) between 7 p.m. and 10 a.m.
For non-residential properties, the sound is limited to 65 dB (A) or 75 dB (C) between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. It is limited to 55 dB (A) or 65 dB (C) between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m.
The ordinance stipulates that outdoor sound levels will be measured by an ANSI approved sound level meter, with the sound measurement to be taken at the real property line of the complainant nearest to the source of the noise that triggered the complaint.
Among the ordinance’s many proposed exemptions to the sound level limits are lawn mowers, yard maintenance equipment, agricultural and silvicultural vehicles and machinery, construction activity, amplified and non-amplified sound produced by lawful public assembly or public speaking and sports events.
Any duly sworn deputy of the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office or code enforcement officer is empowered to enforce the ordinance and issue citations.
Upon notice by a deputy or code enforcement officer, the property owner or person responsible for the unlawful sound will have 10 minutes to voluntarily remedy the situation, thus avoiding a citation. The exception is if the property has been the subject of a previous complaint within the prior 90 days and a voluntary compliance notice was issued. In which case, a citation may result.
Other causes for citations are if the deputy or code enforcement officer is refused entrance or access to the property believed to be the source of the sound; or if said individuals are unable to determine which individual is responsible for the noise.
In which cases, a presumption will be made and responsibility for the violation will be assigned to the individual on record as owning the property, who then may be cited.
The property owner, of course, will be given an opportunity to rebut the presumption of responsibility and contest the citation, provided that the person is able to establish that he or she was not the cause or source of the excessive sound.
Persons cited for a violation may contest the citation within 30 days, which will result in a civil proceeding in a Jefferson County court.
In terms of penalties, the fines are $150 for a first violation, $250 for a second violation and $500 for third and subsequent violations.
It will also, per the ordinance, constitute a separate violation if sound exceeding the established limits continues or reoccurs within 15 minutes after a deputy or code enforcement officer issues a notice of violation to the property owner or the person responsible for causing the excessive sound.
Once a judgment is rendered as a consequence of a violation, a certified copy of the judgment will be recorded in the official books of Jefferson County and in any other county in the state where the violator owns real property.
Additionally, if the operation or maintenance of any equipment, device, instrument, vehicle or machinery violates the provisions of the ordinance, or is perceived to endanger the comfort, repose, health and peace of residents, and declared to be a public nuisance, the county is authorized to pursue any and all remedies, including petitioning the court for a restraining order or injunction.