As used in this Article, the following terms mean:
Any place which at the time of the offense is not open to
the public. It includes property which is owned publicly or privately.
Any property in which the person does not have a possessory
interest.
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.
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:
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.
PUBLIC PLACE
Definition. The following term shall be defined
as follows:
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.
[1]
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.
FUNERAL and BURIAL SERVICE
OTHER PROTEST ACTIVITIES
Definitions. As used in this Section, the following
terms mean:
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.
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.
CITY
dBA
DECIBEL (dB)
IMPULSIVE SOUND
PERCEPTION THRESHOLD
POINT OF ANNOYANCE
SOUND LEVEL METER
SOUND PRESSURE
VEHICULAR
VIBRATION
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:
The City of Town and Country.
Decibels shown in a reading made on the dBA scale.
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).
A sound that is short in duration and not continuous or ongoing.
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.
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1.
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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.
| |
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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.
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An instrument used for measurement of the intensity of sound
and accurately calibrated in decibels. Readings shall be made on a
dBA scale.
The average rate at which sound energy is transmitted through
a unit area in a specified direction.
Pertaining to motor vehicles required to be registered with
the Department of Revenue for the State of Missouri.
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.
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:
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
| |
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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:
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On Sundays through Thursdays:
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from 10:00 P.M. until 7:30 A.M. the following morning.
| |
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On Fridays and Saturdays:
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from 11:59 P.M. until 7:30 A.M. the following morning.
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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;
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]
[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.
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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.
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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.
