The Plymouth Borough Council, finding that excessive levels
of sound are detrimental to the physical, mental and social well-being
of the residents, as well as to their comfort, living conditions,
general welfare and safety, and being therefore a public health and
welfare hazard, hereby declares it to be necessary to provide for
the greater control and more effective regulation of excessive sound
and the sources of excessive sound within the Borough of Plymouth.
The following words, terms and phrases, when used in the article,
shall have the meanings herein given, except where the context clearly
indicates a different meaning:
CONSTRUCTION OPERATION
The erection, repair, renovation, demolition or removal of
any building or structure; and the excavation, filling, grading and
regulation of lots in connection therewith.
EMERGENCY
Any occurrence or set of circumstances involving actual or
imminent physical trauma or property damage.
EMERGENCY WORK
Any work performed for the purpose of preventing or alleviating
the physical trauma or property damage threatened or caused by an
emergency.
IMPULSIVE SOUND
Sound of short duration, usually less than one second, with
an abrupt onset and rapid decay. Examples of impulsive sounds include
explosions, dropped force impacts and the discharge of firearms.
NOISE
Any sound which annoys or disturbs humans or which causes
or tends to cause an adverse psychological or physiological effect
on humans.
NOISE DISTURBANCE
Any noise which:
A.
Endangers or injures the safety or health of humans or animals.
B.
Annoys or disturbs a reasonable person of normal sensitivities;
or
C.
Endangers or injures personal or real property.
PERSON
Any individual, association, partnership or corporation,
and includes any officer, employee, department, agency or instrumentality
of a state or any political subdivision of a state. Whenever used
in any clause prescribing and imposing a penalty, "person" includes
the individual members, partners, officers and managers or any of
them of partnerships and associations, and as for corporation the
officers and managers thereof or any of them.
POWERED MODEL VEHICLE
Any self-propelled, airborne, waterborne or land-borne plane,
vessel or vehicle, which is not designed to carry persons, including,
but not limited to, any model airplane, boat, car or rocket.
PROPERTY OR BOUNDARY LINE
An imaginary line drawn through the points of contact or
adjoining lands, apartments, condominiums, townhouses and duplexes
owned, rented or leased by different persons; a demarcation or a line
of separate properties; and also, for any two or more buildings sharing
a common grounds, the line drawn midway between any two such buildings.
All areas devoted to public rights-of-way shall be deemed to be across
the property line. For the purpose of this definition, the property
line includes all points on a plane formed by projecting the property
line in a manner deemed appropriate by the enforcing police officer.
PUBLIC RIGHT-OF-WAY
Any street, avenue, boulevard, highway, sidewalk, alley or
similar place which is open to public use as a matter of right.
PUBLIC SPACE
Any real property or structures thereon which are owned or
controlled by a governmental entity.
REAL PROPERTY
All land, whether publicly or privately owned, whether improved,
with or without structures, exclusive of any areas devoted to the
public right-of-way.
The following sounds are exempted from this article:
A. Amplified announcements: electronically amplified announcements at
athletic events.
B. Blasting. Blasting may occur only between the hours of 8:00 a.m.
and 5:00 p.m., Monday through Saturday. No blasting is permitted on
Sundays.
C. Concerts, band concerts, block parties, church carnivals, street
festivals or other performances or similar activities publicly or
privately sponsored and presented in any public or private space outdoors,
provided that such activities do not occur between the hours of 10:00
p.m. and 7:00 a.m.
D. Emergency work. Sounds caused by the performance of emergency work
or by the ordinary and accepted use of emergency apparatus and equipment.
E. Municipal and utility services. Sounds resulting from the repair
or replacement of any municipal or utility installation in or about
the public right-of-way.
F. School and public activities. Sounds not electronically amplified,
created by organized school related programs, activities or events,
other than fireworks or fireworks displays and motor vehicle racing
events.
Any person, firm or corporation violating any of the provisions
of this article shall, upon conviction thereof, be sentenced to pay
a fine of not less than $50 nor more than $300, and the costs of prosecution,
and, in default of payment of such fine and costs, to imprisonment
for not more than 10 days. A separate offense shall be deemed committed
on each day during which a violation occurs or continues.
All other ordinances or parts of ordinances inconsistent herewith
shall be and they are expressly repealed.
In the event that any provision, section, sentence, clause or
portion of this article shall be held to be invalid, such invalidity
shall not affect or impair any remaining provision, section, sentence,
clause or portion of the article, it being the intent that such remainder
shall be and shall remain in full force and effect.
It is declared that enactment of this article is necessary for
the protection, benefit and preservation of the health, safety and
welfare of the inhabitants of this Borough. It shall be the duty and
responsibility of the Plymouth Borough Police Department to enforce
the provisions of this article.