By Becky Killian, Staff Writer
Officials have adopted a noise ordinance for unincorporated portions of the county, and anyone found responsible for “unreasonable noise” during the overnight hours could face fines of up to $1,000. The ordinance was adopted by the Washington County Board of Commissioners.
Prior to the unanimous vote to approve the new ordinance, Commissioner Todd Ewen said that the possibility of restricting overnight noise was raised a couple years ago. He emphasized that the ordinance intends to target residents causing “nuisance situations” and that it does not aim to infringe upon anybody’s rights.
The ordinance defines “unreasonable noise” as “sound that is of a volume, frequency, or pattern that prohibits, disrupts, injures, or endangers the health, safety, welfare, prosperity, comfort, or repose of reasonable persons of ordinary sensitivities within the county.”
Factors that will determine whether a noise is “unreasonable” include the proximity of the sound to private or commercial sleeping facilities; how the surrounding land is typically used and the proximity to where the sound is heard; the time of day; the sound’s duration; and “whether the sound is recurrent, intermittent, or constant.”
The hours of 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. are identified as the time during which noise must be restricted.
Property owners must restrict the sounds of horns, whistles, engines, yelling or shouting, as well as any device used to convey sound like speakers or televisions.
The ordinance also aims to protect schools, courts, churches, and hospitals from “unreasonable noise that is plainly audible to a person with normal hearing above normal ambient noise levels at a distance of 50 feet from the source of the noise.”
Parents could be fined if their minor children violate the ordinance, as could pet owners. Vehicle owners with defective or modified exhaust systems could be ordered to muffle the exhaust and given seven days to have the work completed.
Exemptions include emergency sirens; “properly muffled” lawn mowers used between the hours of 7 a.m. and 10 p.m.; burglar alarms; celebratory noises associated with holidays like Memorial Day, July 4th, Halloween, and New Year’s Eve; and permitted parades provided they fall within certain hours dependent upon the day of the week. More exemptions are allowed for noise associated with sporting events and the normal and customary sounds generated by certain businesses like farming.
Ewen said it will be left to the deputies with the Washington County Sheriff’s Office to determine when the ordinance should be enforced.
The ordinance includes fines of $50 for the first offense; $150 for the second; and $300 for the third. Subsequent offenses carry a fine of $1,000. Fines can be imposed every day a violation occurs.