The Town Council finds and declares that:
A. Excessive noise is a serious hazard to the public
health and welfare and quality of life in the Town.
B. Each person has a right to an environment reasonably
free from noise which jeopardizes health or welfare or unnecessarily
degrades the quality of life.
Unless otherwise expressly stated or the context
clearly indicates a different intention, the following terms shall
have the meanings shown. Definitions of technical terms used shall
be obtained from publications of acoustical terminology used by the
American National Standards Institute (ANSI) or its successor body.
A-SCALE (dBA)
The sound level in decibels measured using the A-weighted
network as specified in ANSI S1.4-1971 for sound level meters. The
level is designated "dB(A)" or "dBA."
CONSTRUCTION
Any and all activity necessary or incidental to the erection,
assembly, alteration, installation, repair or equipping of buildings,
roadways, infastructure, or utilities, including drilling, blasting,
mining, land clearing, grading, excavating and filling.
DECIBEL (dB)
A logarithmic and dimensionless unit of measure often used
in describing the amplitude of sound, equal to 20 times the logarithm
to the base 10 of the ratio of the pressure of the sound measured
to the reference pressure, which is 20 micropascals (20 micronewtons
per square meter).
DEMOLITION
Any dismantling, intentional destruction or removal of structures,
utilities, public or private right-of-way surfaces, impervious surfaces,
or similar property.
EMERGENCY WORK
Work made necessary to restore property to a safe condition
following a public calamity, work to restore public utilities, or
work required to protect persons or property from imminent exposure
to danger.
EXTERIOR GENERATOR
Gas-, propane- or diesel-powered engine designed to generate
electricity outside the confines of a building.
LOT
Any area, a tract or parcel of land owned by or under the
lawful control of one distinct ownership. Abutting platted lots under
the same ownership shall be considered a lot. The lot line or boundary
is an imaginary line at ground level which separates a lot and its
vertical extension owned by one person from that owned by another.
MOTORCYCLE
Any motor vehicle having a saddle or seat for the use of
the rider and designed to travel on not more than three wheels in
contact with the ground. The term shall include motorized bicycles
and motor scooters.
MOTOR VEHICLE
Any motor-operated vehicle licensed for use on the public
highways.
NOISE DISTURBANCE
Any sound which:
A.
Exceeds the dBA level for such sound set out
in this chapter.
B.
Injures or endangers the safety or health of
humans.
C.
Annoys, disturbs or endangers the comfort, repose,
peace or safety of a reasonable person of normal sensitivities.
D.
Endangers or injures personal or real property.
NOISE-SENSITIVE AREA
Any area used for the operation of schools, churches, hospitals
and nursing homes or any area designated by the Town Council as a
noise-sensitive area and posted with noise-sensitive signs.
OFF-ROAD RECREATIONAL VEHICLE
Any motor vehicle, including road vehicles but excepting
watercraft, used off public roads for recreational purposes.
PERSON
Any individual, association, partnership or corporation,
including any officer, department, bureau, agency or instrumentality
of the United States, a state or any political subdivision of that
state, including the Town.
PLAINLY AUDIBLE (SOUND)
Any sound for which the information content of that sound
is unambiguously communicated to the listener, such as, but not limited
to, understandable spoken speech, comprehension of whether a voice
is raised or normal, or comprehensible musical rhythms.
PORTABLE COOLING/HEATING COMPRESSOR
The gas, propane or diesel compressor attached to a truck,
trailer or temporary storage unit whose purpose is to heat or cool
the space to which it is attached.
POWERED MODEL VEHICLE
Any self-propelled airborne, waterborne or landborne model
plane, vessel or vehicle which is not designed to carry persons including,
but not limited to, any model airplane, boat, car or rocket.
PUBLIC RIGHT-OF-WAY
Any street, avenue, highway, boulevard, alley, easement or
public space which is owned by or controlled by a public government
entity.
PUBLIC SPACE
Any real property, including any structure thereon, which
is owned or controlled by a governmental entity.
PURE TONE
Any sound which can be distinctly heard as a single pitch
or set of single pitches.
REAL PROPERTY BOUNDARY
An imaginary line along the ground surface, and its vertical
extension, which separates the real property owned by one person from
that owned by another person, but not including intrabuilding real
property divisions.
RECEIVING LAND USE
The use or occupancy of the property which receives the transmission
of sound as defined in this section.
RESIDENTIAL
Any property on which is located a building or structure
used wholly or partially for living or sleeping purposes.
SOUND
An oscillation in pressure, particle displacement, particle
velocity or other physical parameter in a medium with internal forces
that cause compression and rarefaction of that medium. The description
of sound may include any characteristic of such sound, including duration,
intensity and frequency.
SOUND LEVEL
The weighted sound pressure level obtained by the use of
a sound level meter and frequency weighting network such as A, B or
C, as specified in American National Standards Institute specifications
for sound level meters (ANSI S1.4-1971, or the latest approved revision
thereof). If the frequency weighting employed is not indicated, the
A-weighting shall apply.
SOUND LEVEL METER
An instrument which includes a microphone, amplifier, RMS
detector, integrator or time average, output or display meter, and
weighting networks used to measure sound pressure levels, which complies
with American National Standards Institute Standard 1.4-1971.
ZONING DISTRICTS
Those districts established by and defined in Chapter
260, Zoning, of the Code of the Town of Westerly.
No person shall make, continue or cause to
be made or continued, except as permitted, any noise disturbance as
defined in this chapter or any noise in excess of the sound level
limit for such noise established in this chapter.
The following acts and the causing thereof are
declared to be in violation of this chapter:
A. Radios, television sets, musical instruments and similar
devices. No person shall operate, play or permit the operation or
playing of any radio, television, phonograph, drum, musical instrument,
sound amplifier or similar device, or any combination of the same,
which produces, reproduces or simulates amplified sound:
(1) In such a manner as to create a noise disturbance
across a real property boundary or within a noise-sensitive area.
(2) In such a manner as to create a noise disturbance
at 50 feet from such device, when operated in or on a motor vehicle
on a public right-of-way or space, or in a boat on public waters.
(3) In such a manner as to create a noise disturbance
to any person other than the operator of the device when operated
by any person on either a common carrier, public beach, park, playground
or other public recreational area.
B. Animals and birds. No person shall own, possess or
harbor any animal or animals, bird or birds which frequently or for
continued duration howls, barks, meows, squeaks, or makes other sounds
which create a noise disturbance across a real property boundary or
within a noise-sensitive area.
C. Vehicle or motorboat repairs and testing. No person
shall repair, rebuild, modify or test any motor vehicle, motorcycle
or motorboat in such a manner as to cause a noise disturbance across
a real property boundary or outdoors within a noise-sensitive area.
D. Motorboats, jet skis and similar devices. No person
shall operate or permit the operation of any motorboat, jet ski or
other similar device in any lake, river, stream or other waterway
in such a manner so as to cause a noise disturbance and/or as to exceed
a sound level of 50 dBA at 200 feet or the nearest shoreline, whichever
is less.
E. Noise-sensitive zones. No person, alone or in concert
with others, shall create or cause the creation of any sound within
any noise-sensitive area so as to disrupt or interfere with the functions
and/or activities normally conducted within the area or to disturb
or annoy any person or persons within such area.
F. Motor vehicles.
(1) Motor
vehicle maximum sound levels. No person shall operate or cause to
be operated a public or private motor vehicle or motorcycle on a public
right-of-way at any time in such a manner as to create a noise disturbance.
(2) Adequate
mufflers or sound-dissipative devices.
(a) No person shall operate or cause to be operated any motor vehicle
or motorcycle not equipped with a muffler or sound-dissipative device
in good working order and in constant operation.
(b) No person shall remove or render inoperative or cause to be removed
or rendered inoperative, other than for purposes of maintenance, repair
or replacement, any muffler or sound-dissipative device on a motor
vehicle or motorcycle.
(3) Motor
vehicle horns and signaling devices. The following acts and the causing
thereof are declared to be in violation of this chapter:
(a) The sounding of any horn or other auditory signaling device on or
in any motor vehicle on any public right-of-way or public space, except
as a warning of danger or as provided in the Vehicle Code.
(b) The sounding of any horn or other auditory signaling device so as
to create or cause a noise disturbance.
Any person who shall violate any provision of this chapter shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished for each violation as provided in Chapter
1, Article
II, General Penalty. The continuation of a violation of any provision of this chapter shall constitute, for each day the violation is continued, a separate and distinct violation hereunder.