As used in this Article, the following terms mean:
PRIVATE PROPERTY
Any place which at the time of the offense is not open to the public. It includes property which is owned publicly or privately.
PROPERTY OF ANOTHER
Any property in which the person does not have a possessory interest.
PUBLIC PLACE
Any place which at the time of the offense is open to the public. It includes property which is owned publicly or privately.
A. 
A person commits the offense of peace disturbance if he or she:
1. 
Unreasonably and knowingly disturbs or alarms another person or persons by:
a. 
Loud noise; or
b. 
Offensive language addressed in a face-to-face manner to a specific individual and uttered under circumstances which are likely to produce an immediate violent response from a reasonable recipient; or
c. 
Threatening to commit a felonious act against any person under circumstances which are likely to cause a reasonable person to fear that such threat may be carried out; or
d. 
Fighting; or
e. 
Creating a noxious and offensive odor.
2. 
Is in a public place or on private property of another without consent and purposely causes inconvenience to another person or persons by unreasonably and physically obstructing:
a. 
Vehicular or pedestrian traffic; or
b. 
The free ingress or egress to or from a public or private place.
A. 
A person commits the offense of private peace disturbance if he/she is on private property and unreasonably and purposely causes alarm to another person or persons on the same premises by:
1. 
Threatening to commit an offense against any person; or
2. 
Fighting.
B. 
For purposes of this Section, if a building or structure is divided into separately occupied units, such units are separate premises.
A person commits the offense of unlawful assembly if he/she knowingly assembles with six (6) or more other persons and agrees with such persons to violate any of the criminal laws of this State or of the United States with force or violence.
[Ord. No. 3124 §1, 3-17-2006]
A. 
Declaration. It is hereby declared that the protection and preservation of the home is the keystone of democratic government; that the public health and welfare and the good order of the community require that members of the community enjoy in their homes and dwellings a feeling of well-being, tranquility and privacy, and when absent from their homes and dwellings, carry with them the sense of security inherent in the assurance that they may return to the enjoyment of their homes and dwellings; that the practice of picketing before or about residences and dwellings causes emotional disturbance and distress to the occupants; obstructs and interferes with the free use of public sidewalks and public ways of travel; that such practice has as its object the harassing of such occupants; and without resort to such practice full opportunity exists, and under the terms and provisions of this Section will continue to exist for the exercise of freedom of speech and other constitutional rights; and that the provisions hereinafter enacted are necessary for the public interest to avoid the detrimental results herein set forth.
B. 
Unlawful. It shall be unlawful for any person to engage in picketing before or about the residence or dwelling of any individual.
C. 
Applicability. Nothing herein shall be deemed to prohibit:
1. 
Picketing in any lawful manner during a labor dispute of the place of employment involved in such labor dispute, or
2. 
The holding of a meeting or assembly on any premises commonly used for the discussion of subjects of general public interest.
D. 
Penalty. Anyone convicted of a violation shall be subject to the penalties provided in Section 100.150 General Penalty of the Municipal Code.
A person commits the offense of rioting if he/she knowingly assembles with six (6) or more other persons and agrees with such persons to violate any of the criminal laws of this State or of the United States with force or violence and thereafter, while still so assembled, does violate any of said laws with force or violence.
A person commits the offense of refusal to disperse if, being present at the scene of an unlawful assembly or at the scene of a riot, he/she knowingly fails or refuses to obey the lawful command of a Law Enforcement Officer to depart from the scene of such unlawful assembly or riot.
A. 
Definition. The following term shall be defined as follows:
PUBLIC PLACE
Any place to which the general public has access and a right of resort for business, entertainment or other lawful purpose, but does not necessarily mean a place devoted solely to the uses of the public. It shall also include the front or immediate area of any store, shop, restaurant, tavern or other place of business and also public grounds, areas or parks.
B. 
It shall be unlawful for any person to stand or remain idle either alone or in consort with others in a public place in such manner so as to:
1. 
Obstruct any public street, public highway, public sidewalk or any other public place or building by hindering or impeding or tending to hinder or impede the free and uninterrupted passage of vehicles, traffic or pedestrians;
2. 
Commit in or upon any public street, public highway, public sidewalk or any other public place or building any act or thing which is an obstruction or interference to the free and uninterrupted use of property or with any business lawfully conducted by anyone in or upon or facing or fronting on any such public street, public highway, public sidewalk, or any other public place or building, all of which prevents the free and uninterrupted ingress, egress and regress, therein, thereon and thereto;
3. 
Obstruct the entrance to any business establishment, without so doing for some lawful purpose, if contrary to the expressed wish of the owner, lessee, managing agent or person in control or charge of the building or premises.
C. 
When any person causes or commits any of the conditions in this Section, a Police Officer or any Law Enforcement Officer shall order that person to stop causing or committing such conditions and to move on or disperse. Any person who fails or refuses to obey such orders shall be guilty of a violation of this Section.
A. 
For purposes of this Section, "house of worship" means any church, synagogue, mosque, other building or structure, or public or private place used for religious worship, religious instruction, or other religious purpose.
B. 
A person commits the offense of disrupting a house of worship if such person:
1. 
Intentionally and unreasonably disturbs, interrupts, or disquiets any house of worship by using profane discourse, rude or indecent behavior, or making noise either within the house of worship or so near it as to disturb the order and solemnity of the worship services; or
2. 
Intentionally injures, intimidates, or interferes with or attempts to injure, intimidate, or interfere with any person lawfully exercising the right of religious freedom in or outside of a house of worship or seeking access to a house of worship, whether by force, threat, or physical obstruction.
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Note: Under certain circumstances this offense can be a felony under state law.
A. 
A person commits the offense of unlawful funeral protest if he or she pickets or engages in other protest activities within three hundred (300) feet of any residence, cemetery, funeral home, church, synagogue or other establishment during or within one (1) hour before or one (1) hour after the conducting of any actual funeral or burial service at that place.
B. 
Definitions. As used in this Section, the following terms mean:
FUNERAL and BURIAL SERVICE
The ceremonies and memorial services held in conjunction with the burial or cremation of the dead, but this Section does not apply to processions while they are in transit beyond any three-hundred-foot zone that is established under Subsection (A) above.
OTHER PROTEST ACTIVITIES
Any action that is disruptive or undertaken to disrupt or disturb a funeral or burial service.
C. 
The offense of unlawful funeral protest shall be an ordinance violation.
[Ord. No. 3960 § 1, 1-11-2016]
A. 
Definitions. As used in this Section, the following terms shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates that a different meaning is intended:
CITY
The City of Town and Country.
dBA
Decibels shown in a reading made on the dBA scale.
DECIBEL (dB)
A unit for measuring the volume of a sound, equal to twenty (20) times the logarithm to the base ten (10) of the ratio of the pressure of the sound measured to the reference pressure, which is twenty (20) micropascals (twenty (20) micronewtons per square meter).
IMPULSIVE SOUND
A sound that is short in duration and not continuous or ongoing.
PERCEPTION THRESHOLD
The minimum vibrational motion necessary to cause awareness of the existence of the vibration by direct means, including but not limited to, sensation by touch or visual observations. Any vibration which produces more than five-tenths (0.5) inch/second root mean square vertical velocity shall be deemed sufficient to cause the awareness of the existence of the vibration by direct means.
POINT OF ANNOYANCE
1.
As to sounds emanating from a source on public or private property, shall be any point in any direction beyond the property line of the property from which the sound emanates.
2.
As to sounds emanating from a source on a public or private street shall be a point fifty (50) feet from the point from which the sound emanates.
SOUND LEVEL METER
An instrument used for measurement of the intensity of sound and accurately calibrated in decibels. Readings shall be made on a dBA scale.
SOUND PRESSURE
The average rate at which sound energy is transmitted through a unit area in a specified direction.
VEHICULAR
Pertaining to motor vehicles required to be registered with the Department of Revenue for the State of Missouri.
VIBRATION
A spatial oscillation of displacement, velocity or acceleration in a solid material.
B. 
Restrictions. Provided that nothing herein shall restrict the use of warning sounds by authorized emergency vehicles operating in emergency circumstances, the following noise restrictions are hereby established.
1. 
The making, creation or permitting of any unreasonably loud, disturbing, or unnecessary noise in the City is prohibited.
2. 
The making, creating or permitting of any noise of such character, intensity or duration as to be detrimental to the life, health or welfare of any individual or which either steadily or intermittently annoys, disturbs, injures or endangers the comfort, repose, peace or safety of any individual is prohibited.
3. 
It shall be prima facie evidence that noise is unreasonably loud and disturbing if any person shall cause, suffer, allow or permit sound from any source which, when measured at the point of annoyance,
a. 
Between 7:30 A.M. to 10:00 P.M. is in excess of:
(1) 
A sound level of sixty-five (65) dBA for continuous airborne sound.
(2) 
An impulsive sound level of eighty (80) dBA for impulsive sound in air.
b. 
Between 10:00 P.M. to 7:30 A.M. is in excess of:
(1) 
A sound level of fifty-five (55) dBA for continuous airborne sound.
(2) 
An impulsive sound level of eighty (80) dBA for impulsive sound in air.
C. 
Enumerated Unnecessary Noises. Sounds from the following sources, among others, are declared to be unreasonably loud, disturbing or unnecessary noises in violation of this Section, even if the noises referred to do not violate the noise levels specified in Subsection (B)(3) of this Section, above:
1. 
Horns, signal devices and the like.
a. 
The sounding of any horn or signal device of any automobile, motorcycle, bus or other vehicle while not in motion, except as a danger signal that another vehicle is approaching apparently dangerously.
b. 
The sounding of any horn or signaling device of any automobile, motorcycle, bus or other vehicle is not prohibited in the following circumstances:
(1) 
After or as brakes are being applied and deceleration of the vehicle is intended;
(2) 
Before passing another vehicle as a signal of intent to so pass;
(3) 
Where State Motor Vehicle Statutes require the sounding of such horn or signal device; or
(4) 
When otherwise necessary as a danger signal.
c. 
Wherever the sounding of any horn or signal device is permitted or required such sound shall not be unreasonably loud or harsh and shall not be emitted for an unreasonable duration of time.
2. 
Animals and birds. The keeping of any animal or bird which, by causing frequent or long-continued sounds, disturbs the comfort and repose of any person in the vicinity. Frequent shall mean issuance of such sound once in every five (5) minutes and long-continued shall mean over a sixty (60) minute period.
3. 
Defect in vehicle or noisy load. The operation of any automobile, motorcycle or other vehicle on any public or private street so out of repair or loaded in such a manner as to create loud or unnecessary grating, grinding, rattling or other noise.
4. 
Steam whistles. The blowing of any steam whistle attached to any stationary boiler, except to give notice of the time to begin or stop work or as a warning of danger.
5. 
Exhausts. The discharge into the open air of the exhaust of any steam engine, stationary internal combustion engine, motor vehicle or motorcycle engine except through a muffler or other device which meets the standards established for such devices by applicable Missouri State laws and regulations.
6. 
Mechanical devices operated by compressed air, unless the noise created thereby is effectively muffled and reduced.
7. 
The creation of a loud or excessive noise in connection with loading or unloading any vehicle or the opening or destruction of bales, boxes, crates and containers.
8. 
The sounding of any bell, gong or device attached to any building or premises, particularly during the hours between 10:00 P.M. and 7:30 A.M., which disturbs the quiet repose of any persons in the vicinity of the devices. This rule shall not apply if the bell, gong or device is sounded as a warning of danger.
9. 
The unnecessary or prolonged blowing or sounding of any horn, whistle, bell or other device attached to any motor vehicle, bus or truck while passing through the City or while loading passengers or freight within the City.
10. 
The use of mechanical loudspeakers or amplifiers on trucks or other vehicles for advertising or other commercial purposes or to produce sound outside the vehicle for any purpose, except when a specific permit has been issued by the City Administrator.
11. 
Construction activity, including, but not limited to, excavation, demolition, alteration, maintenance or repair upon the exterior of any structure or on any property or any such interior activity, that creates noise that can be heard beyond the property line, shall be subject to the restrictions set forth in Section 210.780 of this Code. In the event that the provisions of this Section are inconsistent with Section 210.780, the more restrictive standard shall apply against construction activity.
12. 
Noise emanating from within a park that can be heard beyond the property line of such park, including amusement rides, games, booths, activities, bands, DJs and amplified music of any kind, shall be subject to the restrictions set forth in Section 240.180 of this Code. In the event that the provisions of this Section are inconsistent with Section 240.180, the more restrictive standard shall apply against such noise emanating from within a park.
D. 
Schools, Courts, Churches. The creation of any loud or excessive noise on any street adjacent to any school, institution of learning, church or court, while the same are in session, and which noise interferes with the workings of such institutions is prohibited but this restriction shall be in force only if signs are displayed on such streets indicating that the same is a school, church or court street or quiet zone.
E. 
Non-Vehicular Noise Restrictions. No person shall use or operate any facility, machine or instrument or produce or cause to be produced any sound in the City, the sound-pressure level of which, measured at the point of annoyance, shall exceed the standard noise level of the City for that location for that time of day. In measuring sounds to determine if the standard noise level of the City has been exceeded, the measurement shall be measured on the A-weighting of an accurate sound-level meter. The background sound level is defined as the sound level present when the offending noise source is silenced.
F. 
Vehicular Noise Restrictions. No person shall operate, within the limits of the City, any vehicle which emits sounds which exceed the standard noise level of the City established for that type vehicle when used under ordinary circumstances. For non-commercial vehicles, the standard maximum noise level in the City is hereby established as follows:
Type of Vehicle
Maximum Noise Level
(dBA)
Vehicles other than motorcycle
76
Motorcycle
82
G. 
Exemptions. The following are exempted from noise level limits:
1. 
Emergency construction, repair, paving, demolition or alteration of a street or building. Permission of the City Administrator shall be proof that such emergency exists, but this shall not be the exclusive proof.
2. 
Emergency activities of municipal, County, State or Federal government agencies and emergency activities of public utilities when they are seeking to provide electricity, water or other public utility services and the public health, safety or welfare are involved.
3. 
Warning devices on authorized emergency vehicles and on vehicles used for traffic safety purposes.
4. 
Attendant on-site noise connected with the actual performance of sporting events or with private social gatherings where music is provided by a live band or orchestra or by recorded music provided by loudspeakers. Such private social gatherings shall only be exempted where a specific permit for such social gathering has been issued by the City Administrator. In regard to social gatherings, no more than four (4) such permits shall be issued to any one (1) residence address in any one (1) calendar year and in no case shall the band or orchestra play outdoors or the loudspeaker operate outdoors during the following hours:
On Sundays through Thursdays:
from 10:00 P.M. until 7:30 A.M. the following morning.
On Fridays and Saturdays:
from 11:59 P.M. until 7:30 A.M. the following morning.
Any noise emanating from a loudspeaker or amplifier associated with a sporting event shall not be exempt from noise level limits, and shall be subject to the decibel restrictions set forth in Subsection (B)(3)(a) and (B)(3)(b) of this Section.
a. 
The City Administrator shall deny issuance of a permit for a private social gathering if:
(1) 
The applicant has pled guilty to or been found guilty of a violation of this Section or Section 210.670 of this Code within the year prior to the application;
(2) 
The applicant has any charge for a violation of this Section or Section 210.670 of this Code pending in the Town and Country Municipal Court or St. Louis County Circuit Court at the time of application; or
(3) 
The premises on which the private social gathering resulted in the filing of an information alleging a violation of this Section or Section 210.670 of this Code in the Town and Country Municipal Court within the year prior to the application.
b. 
No charge or complaint of a violation of this Section or of Section 210.670 of this Code shall be used as a basis to deny a permit for a private social gathering if no information was issued in the Town and Country Municipal Court relating to such violation or if a charge was issued but was subsequently dismissed or was nolle prosequi'd.
5. 
Power lawn mowers and leaf blowers when operated between the hours of 8:00 A.M. (9:00 A.M. on Sundays) and 9:00 P.M.
6. 
Snow blowers.
7. 
Air conditioners that increase the background or ambient sound level by no more than five (5) dBA.
H. 
Sound Measurements. Sound measurements shall be made with a sound-level meter.
I. 
Vibrations. No person shall cause or allow any operation nor engage in any activity causing vibrations to be generated which are greater than the perception threshold at any point outside of the boundary of the property where the source of the vibrations is located.
J. 
Complaints. Police Officers are empowered hereunder to write complaints and issue and serve the same on persons violating this Section with vehicles and other devices located on public or private streets of the City. Police Officers are authorized to assist residents of the City of Town and Country in making sound-level measurements for sounds emanating from public or private property.
K. 
Nuisance, Injunction. Any violation of this Section is declared to be a nuisance. In addition to any other relief provided by this Code, the City Attorney may apply to a court of competent jurisdiction for an injunction to prohibit the continuation of any violation of this Section. Such application for relief may include seeking a temporary restraining order, preliminary injunction and permanent injunction.
[Code 1975 §16.75; CC 1989 §15-162]
A. 
It is an offense for any person, while on a bus, to:
1. 
Threaten a breach of the peace;
2. 
Drink any intoxicating liquor;
3. 
Be under the influence of, or have in his/her possession, any non-prescribed controlled substance; or
4. 
Refuse to obey a reasonable request, or order, of the bus crew.
[Code 1975 §16.76; CC 1989 §15-163]
It shall be unlawful for any person to enter any schoolhouse or church within the City in which there is an assemblage of people, met for a lawful purpose, or any courthouse within the City, in a drunken or intoxicated and disorderly condition, or to drink, or offer to drink, any intoxicating liquors in the presence of such assembly of people, or in any courthouse within the City, and any person, or persons, so doing shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
[CC 1989 §15-164; Ord. No. 1329 §1, 9-25-1989; Ord. No. 1989 §1, 9-9-1996; Ord. No. 3000 §1, 2-15-2005; Ord. No. 3677 §1, 6-26-2012; Ord. No. 4395, 11-23-2020]
A. 
The erection (including excavating work), demolition, alteration or repair of any structure or building by any contractor or builder shall be prohibited between the following hours (local time):
1. 
6:00 P.M. Saturday through 7:30 A.M. Monday;
2. 
7:00 P.M. Monday through 7:30 A.M. Tuesday;
3. 
7:00 P.M. Tuesday through 7:30 A.M. Wednesday;
4. 
7:00 P.M. Wednesday through 7:30 A.M. Thursday;
5. 
7:00 P.M. Thursday through 7:30 A.M. Friday;
6. 
6:00 P.M. Friday through 8:00 A.M. Saturday;
7. 
All Federally observed holidays.
except when such activities are required as an emergency for the protection of public health and safety. The Code Official, with the prior approval of the City Administrator, or their designee, may authorize such activities during otherwise prohibited times when unusual circumstances may make adherence to this Section unreasonable.
B. 
The operation of rock breakers and jackhammers will be restricted to the hours between 8:00 A.M. and 6:00 P.M., local time, Monday through Friday, and prohibited on weekends and Federally observed holidays.
[1]
Cross References — Building codes and building regulations, ch. 500; certain noises deemed nuisances, §215.020.