[HISTORY: Adopted by the City of Sanford 12-5-2017 by Order No. 17-157-01.[1] Amendments noted where applicable.]
[1]
Editor's Note: This order also superseded former Ch. 178, Noise, adopted by the Town of Sanford 5-22-1984.
A. 
It is found that excessive, unnecessary, annoying, or distracting noise:
(1) 
Causes distractions to other drivers which impairs the safe operation of motor vehicles;
(2) 
Threatens and/or intimidates pedestrians;
(3) 
Unreasonably disturbs the quiet and normal functioning of the City's residential neighborhoods;
(4) 
Projects a negative image of the City, all detrimental to the health, safety, and welfare of the Sanford's citizens and guests.
B. 
The purpose of this chapter is to prohibit unnecessary, excessive, annoying, or distracting noise within the City of Sanford.
This chapter is adopted pursuant to 30-A M.R.S.A. § 3001 and the City's home rule powers as provided for in Article VII-A of the Maine Constitution and 30-A M.R.S.A. § 2101 et seq.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
DAYTIME HOURS
The hours between: 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m., Monday through Thursday; 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m., Friday through Saturday; and 9:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. on Sunday.
NIGHTTIME HOURS
The hours between: 9:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m., Sunday evening through Friday morning; 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m., Friday evening through Saturday morning; and 10:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m., Saturday evening through Sunday morning.
NOISE-CREATING DEVICES
Any electrical, mechanical, or chemical device or instrument, or combination thereof that creates noise during its operation.
PUBLIC RIGHT-OF-WAY
Any street, roadway, alley, sidewalk, or other area dedicated to public travel or transportation purposes.
A. 
No person shall make, continue, or cause to be made or continued any loud, boisterous, unnecessary, or unusual noises which shall annoy, disturb, injure, or endanger the comfort, repose, health, peace, or safety of others.
B. 
The following activities, conduct, or acts, are declared to be loud, boisterous, unnecessary, or unusual noises and are deemed to annoy, disturb, injure, or endanger the comfort, repose, health, peace, or safety of others in violation of this chapter and shall include, but are not limited to:
(1) 
Using or operating or permitting to be played, used, or operated any radio, receiver, electronically amplified musical instrument, phonograph, loudspeaker, sound amplifier, or other machine or noise-creating device for the producing or reproducing of music or sound which is audible outside of any structure during nighttime hours, which is audible from a minimum of 75 feet from the property line of the noise source except as otherwise permitted, licensed, or sponsored by the City Council;
(2) 
Loud, boisterous, unnecessary, or unusual noises annoying, disturbing, injuring, or endangering the comfort, repose, health, peace, or safety of others audible outside any structure during nighttime hours, which is audible from a minimum of 75 feet from the property line of the noise source except as otherwise permitted, licensed, or sponsored by the City Council;
(3) 
The use of any automobile, motorcycle, or other vehicle, nonessential to safe and reasonable operation, in one or more of the following ways:
(a) 
Revving of motor vehicle engines;
(b) 
Squealing of tires;
(c) 
Accelerating or braking unnecessarily so as to cause a harsh, objectionable or unreasonable noise; or
(d) 
Operating audio equipment clearly audible beyond the confines of a motor vehicle.
(4) 
Owning, possessing or harboring any animal or bird which, frequently or for continued duration, makes sounds which create noise disturbance across a residential real property boundary. For the purpose of this chapter, a barking dog shall mean a dog that barks, bays, cries, howls, or makes any other noise continuously and/or incessantly for a period of 10 minutes or barks intermittently for 1/2 hour or more to the disturbance of any person at any time of day or night, regardless of whether the dog is physically situated in or upon private property; provided, however, that a dog shall not be deemed a barking dog for purposes of this chapter if, at the time the dog is barking, a person is trespassing or threatening to trespass upon private property in or upon which the dog is situated or for any other legitimate cause which teased or provoked the dog.
(5) 
Evidence of the use, discharge, or ignition of fireworks except as otherwise permitted, licensed, or sponsored by the City Council.
The standards of this chapter shall not apply to noises emitted by or related to:
A. 
Any bell or chime from any building clock, school, or church.
B. 
Any siren, whistle, or bell by emergency vehicle or any other alarm system used in an emergency situation; provided, however, that burglar alarms or car alarms failing to terminate within 30 minutes after being activated shall be unlawful.
C. 
Warning devices required by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) or State or federal safety regulations.
D. 
Farming equipment or farming activities.
E. 
Timber harvesting (felling trees and removing logs from woods).
F. 
Municipal solid waste collection.
G. 
Refuse and solid waste collection during daytime hours.
H. 
Municipal, public works, or utility projects.
I. 
Domestic power equipment operated by a homeowner during daytime hours, such as, but not limited to, power saws, sanders, grinders, drills, lawn and garden tools, or other domestic power equipment or similar devices.
J. 
Construction or demolition activity permitted and duly authorized during daytime hours. Emergency construction or repair work by public utilities and agencies is exempted. The Police Department may allow construction during nighttime hours if it is demonstrated that extenuating circumstances disallows construction during daytime hours.
K. 
Blasting activities permitted and duly authorized during daytime hours at specified times announced beforehand to the local public.
L. 
Existing industrial noise sources which are in operation as of May 22, 1984, shall be provided a permanent noise level allowance of 10dB(A) otherwise required herein.
A. 
While occupying any public right-of-way, persons shall not operate any noise-creating device in such a manner that the public's attention is drawn to the source of the noise. Such activities or conduct shall include, but are not limited to:
(1) 
Discharging fireworks or any exploding device.
(2) 
Firing a starter pistol, air gun, BB gun, or a firearm.
(3) 
Sounding a bell or whistle for so extended a period of time as to cause annoyance to others.
(4) 
Rapid throttle advance and/or revving of an internal combustion engine resulting in increased noise from the engine so as to cause annoyance to others.
(5) 
Operating a motor vehicle, as defined in 29-A M.R.S.A. § 101 (42), including but not limited to a motorcycle, with a straight pipe exhaust system, an exhaust system with a cutout, bypass or similar device or an exhaust system that does not meet the requirements of Maine Statutes, including, but not limited to 29-A M.R.S.A. § 1912:
(a) 
Muffler required. A person may not operate a motor vehicle unless that vehicle is equipped with an adequate muffler properly maintained to prevent excessive or unusual noise. "Excessive or unusual noise" includes motor noise emitted by a motor vehicle that is noticeably louder than similar vehicles in the environment; and
(b) 
Amplification prohibited. A person may not operate a motor vehicle with an exhaust system that has been modified when the result of that modification is the amplification or increase the noise emitted by the motor above that emitted by the muffler originally installed on the vehicle.
B. 
The prohibition against certain noises upon the public right-of-way shall not apply to the following activities or conduct:
(1) 
Expression or communication protected by the United States Constitution, including the First Amendment, or the Maine Constitution.
(2) 
Any activity or conduct where the regulation of which has been preempted by Maine Statutes.
(3) 
Any noise for which a permit has been issued by an authorized agency.
(4) 
The sounding of any signaling device permitted by law.
A person operating a motor vehicle shall not use an unmuffled engine brake to slow the vehicle except in an emergency situation for the purpose of avoiding a collision. "Engine brake" means a device that retards the motion of a motor vehicle by using the compression of the engine of the motor vehicle and "unmuffled" means that the engine brake is not equipped with a muffler which complies with the requirements of 29-A M.R.S.A. § 1912. This section does not apply to emergency response vehicles operated by a governmental entity or licensed provider of emergency medical services.
No person shall operate an engine or any standing motor vehicle with a weight in excess of 10,000 pounds manufacturer's gross vehicle weight for a period in excess of 10 minutes within any eight-hour period during nighttime hours, when such vehicle is parked on a residential premises or on a public right-of-way next to a residential premises.
A. 
This chapter is enforced by the Police Department. Violations are prosecuted as a civil violation and a civil penalty will be imposed through the issuance of citation and enforced through the district court. The civil penalties imposed are cumulative, and each day that the violation continues is a separate offense.
B. 
The following civil penalties shall be imposed through the issuance of a citation:
(1) 
First citation: $50.
(2) 
Second citation: $100.
(3) 
Third and subsequent citations: $200.
A person served with a violation and citation by motor vehicle must provide satisfactory evidence that the muffler or exhaust system does not emit noise in excess of 95 decibels as measured in accordance with the standards and specifications outlined in Standard J-1169 adopted by the Society of Automotive Engineers in May 1998. Measurements must be made by a participating certified inspection station pursuant to 29-A M.R.S.A. § 1912.
In addition to the issuance of a citation and civil penalties, pursuant to 30-A M.R.S.A. § 4302, noise may constitute a public nuisance if it is unreasonable or if it results in the unreasonable interference with the use and enjoyment of private or public property or with the rights of health and comfort of people as demonstrated by unreasonable volume, time, and duration of the noise and shall be a violation and shall be abated:
A. 
Pursuant to 17 M.R.S.A. § 2706, whoever erects, causes, or continues a public nuisance, shall be punished by a fine of not more than $100, and the court with or without such fine may order such nuisance to be discontinued or abated; and
B. 
Pursuant to 17 M.R.S.A. § 2702, when on indictment, complaint or action any person is adjudged guilty of a nuisance, the court, in addition to the fine imposed, if any, or to the judgment for damages and cost for which a separate execution shall issue, may order the nuisance abated or removed at the expense of the defendant.
If any clause, sentence, paragraph, section, article, or part of this chapter or of any ordinance included in this Code or through supplementation shall be adjudged by any court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect, impair or invalidate the remainder thereof but shall be confined in its operation to the clause, sentence, paragraph, section, article, or part thereof directly involved in the controversy in which such judgment shall have been rendered.