The Town Council hereby finds and declares that:
A. Excessive noise is a serious hazard to public health and welfare
and the quality of life in the Town of East Greenwich.
B. A substantial body of science and technology exists by which excessive
noise can be substantially abated without serious inconvenience to
the public.
C. Certain of the noise-producing equipment in this community is essential
to the quality of life herein and should be allowed to continue at
reasonable levels with moderate regulation.
D. Each person has a right to an environment reasonably free from noise
which jeopardizes health or welfare or unnecessarily degrades the
quality of life.
E. It is the declared policy of the Town of East Greenwich to promote
an environment free from excessive noise (otherwise properly called
noise pollution), which unnecessarily jeopardizes the health and welfare
and degrades the quality of the lives of the residents of this Town
without unduly prohibiting, limiting or otherwise regulating the function
of certain noise-producing equipment which is not amenable to such
controls and yet is essential to the quality of life in the community.
For the purposes of this chapter, certain terms shall have the
meanings ascribed to them in this section, unless the context clearly
indicates otherwise:
AMBIENT NOISE
The all-encompassing noise associated with a given environment,
exclusive of a particular noise being tested, being usually a composite
of sounds from many sources, near and far, exclusive of intruding
noises from isolated identifiable sources.
DECIBEL (db)
A unit of measure often used in describing the amplitude
of sound which denotes the ratio between two quantities which are
proportional to power; the number of decibels corresponding to the
ratio of two amounts of power is 10 times the logarithm to the base
10 of this ratio.
EMERGENCY WORK
Work made necessary to restore property to a safe condition
following a public calamity, or work required to protect persons or
property from an imminent exposure to danger, or work by private or
public utilities when restoring utility service.
MAXIMUM PERMITTED SOUND LEVEL
The maximum sound level that may be lawfully made pursuant to this chapter, and any sound exceeding this sound level is punishable pursuant to §
152-5.
MOTOR VEHICLES
Includes, but is not limited to, minibikes and go-carts.
SOUND LEVEL (also NOISE LEVEL), IN DECIBELS (db)
The sound measured with the "A" weighting, as set forth herein and slow response (one-second averaging) by a sound-level meter, except as set forth in §
152-9D for licensing of amplified sound equipment by an entertainment license holder.
[Amended 4-24-2023 by Ord. No. 915]
SOUND TRUCK
Any motor vehicle or any other vehicle regardless of motive
power, whether in motion or stationary, having mounted thereon or
attached thereto any sound-amplifying equipment.
SOUND-AMPLIFYING EQUIPMENT
Any machine or device for the amplification of the human
voice, music or any other sound. Sound-amplifying equipment shall
not include standard automobile radios when used and heard only by
the occupants of the vehicle in which the automobile radio is installed.
Sound-amplifying equipment as used in this chapter shall not include
warning devices on any vehicle used only for traffic safety purposes.
SOUND-LEVEL METER
An instrument, including a microphone, amplifier, RMS detector,
integrator or time averager, output or display meter, and weighting
networks, used to measure sound pressure levels, which complies with
ANSI Standard 1.4-1971, as the same may be revised.
TOWN
The Town of East Greenwich, Rhode Island.
[Amended 4-24-2023 by Ord. No. 915]
Any sound level measurement made pursuant to the provisions of this chapter shall be measured with a sound-level meter using the "A" weighting with a one-minute Leq (equivalent continuous sound level), except as set forth in §
152-9D for licensing of amplified sound equipment by an entertainment license holder.
The provisions of this chapter shall not apply to:
A. The emission of sound for the purpose of alerting persons to the
existence of an emergency;
B. The emission of sound in the performance of emergency work;
C. Noncommercial public speaking and public assembly activities conducted
on any private property, public space or public right-of-way;
D. The emission of sound in the performance of governmental military
operations;
E. The emission of sound in the discharge of weapons or in fireworks
displays licensed by the Town;
F. The emission of sound in the operation of snow removal equipment;
G. The emission of sound relative to permitted construction and demolition
activities, provided that such activities do not occur between 9:00
p.m. and 7:00 a.m.; and
H. The emission of sound by a train that is in motion through the Town.