When used in this article, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
Daytime hours.
The hours from 7:00 a.m. on one day and 10:00 p.m. the same day.
dB(A).
The intensity of a sound expressed in decibels.
Emergency.
Any occurrence or set of circumstances involving actual or imminent physical trauma or property damage or loss that demands immediate action.
Emergency work.
Any work performed for the purpose of:
(1) 
Preventing or alleviating the physical trauma or property damage threatened or caused by an emergency;
(2) 
Restoring property to a safe condition following a fire, accident, or natural disaster;
(3) 
Protecting persons or property from exposure to danger; or
(4) 
Restoring public utilities.
Nighttime hours.
The hours between 10:01 p.m. on one day and 6:59 a.m. the following day.
Nonresidential property/areas.
Any real property that is not included in the definition of residential property as defined in this section. Without limitation, the term includes properties that have been zoned other than as residential property, and properties that are devoted to public purposes, such as public parks.
Plainly audible.
Any sound that can be detected by a person using his or her unaided hearing faculties. For example, if the sound source under investigation is a portable or personal vehicular sound amplification or reproduction device, the enforcement officer need not determine the name of the song, specific words or the artist performing it. The detection of the rhythmic bass component of the music is sufficient to constitute a plainly audible sound.
Property line or property boundary.
With respect to single occupancy properties, the line along the ground surface and its vertical extension that separates the real property owned, leased, or occupied by one person from that owned, leased, or occupied by another person. With respect to shared occupancy properties the term shall mean the line that represents the legal limits of occupancy of any person who owns, leases, or otherwise occupies an apartment, condominium, hotel or motel room, office, easement, or any other type of occupancy from that of other occupants on the property.
Residential property/areas.
Any real property zoned for residential use in accordance with the city’s zoning ordinance, all other real property which has been platted for residential use on which persons reside, and the public rights-of-way abutting any such real property.
Streets.
Defined as being in the same category as the surrounding zoning. In the case of residential properties/areas which are across the street from nonresidential properties/areas, the street shall be considered to be in a residential area.
(Ordinance 2009-O-385 adopted 10/8/09; Ordinance 2010-O-394 adopted 6/17/10)
(a) 
It shall be unlawful for any person to make, continue, or cause to be made or continued any loud, unnecessary, or unusual noise that annoys, disturbs, injures, or endangers the comfort, repose, health, peace, or safety of others. In determining whether a noise is loud, unnecessary, or unusual, the following factors shall be considered: time of day; proximity to residential properties/areas as defined above; whether the noise is recurrent, intermittent, or constant; the volume and intensity; and whether the noise has been enhanced in volume or range by any type of electronic or mechanical means.
(b) 
It shall be unlawful for any person to make, assist in making, permit, continue, cause to be made or continued, or permit the continuance of any sound that either exceeds the maximum permitted sound decibel levels specified herein or otherwise unreasonably disturbs, injures, or endangers the comfort, repose, health, peace, or safety of others.
(c) 
The acts enumerated in this article, among others, are declared to be loud, disturbing, and unnecessary nuisance noises in violation of this article, but such enumeration shall not be deemed to be exclusive. The following noises are presumed to be offensive to a person of ordinary sensibilities in the city and are hereby declared to be a nuisance:
(1) 
The use of any motor vehicle so out of repair or so extra loaded, that it creates any loud and unreasonable or unusual, (that is, not standard equipment for the type vehicle, or which violates state regulations for equipment or emissions), grating, grinding, rattling, or any other loud and unreasonable sound is hereby prohibited and declared to be unlawful;
(2) 
The operation of an engine of any motor vehicle as defined by the Texas Transportation Code so as to “brake” or slow the same through the use of gears (commonly known as “jake braking”) or by any other method which produces any noise in addition to the normal operating engine noise;
(3) 
Except emergency equipment or vehicles then located at a permitted public event or parade, the idling of an engine of any sort of motor vehicle for more than one (1) hour;
(4) 
The continued or frequent sounding of any horn or other signal device on any automobile or other vehicle except as a danger or warning signal, or the creation by means of any such signal device of any unreasonably loud or harsh noise for any unnecessary purpose or unreasonable period of time;
(5) 
The excavation or grading of land, or the erection, construction, demolition or alteration of any building or structure, between the hours of 9:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m., within six hundred feet (600') of any occupied residential structure, or that generates, produces or results in any noise or sound that may be heard at the property line of any occupied residential structure; provided that this subsection shall not apply to any such work, construction, repairs or alterations that constitute an urgent necessity for the benefit and interest of the public safety, health or general welfare, e.g. repairs and emergency installations by any public utility, or to any excavation, erection, construction, demolition or alteration authorized by the city council to be undertaken between the hours of 9:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m.;
(6) 
Sound produced from any sound amplifier that is part of or connected to any speaker system, radio, instrument, stereo receiver, television, MP3 player, compact disc player, cassette tape player, microphone, or any other sound source, when operated: (A) in such a manner as to disturb the peace, quiet, and comfort of the neighboring inhabitants; (B) at any time with louder volume than is necessary for convenient hearing for persons who are in a vehicle or within the property or premises or on the waterway in which such sound amplifier is operated and who are voluntary listeners thereto; or (C) on a waterway between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m. For the purposes of subsections (A) and (B) herein, the operation of any such sound amplifier in such a manner as to be plainly audible at a distance of 50 feet or more from a vehicle shall be presumed to be violation of this section. The operation of any such sound amplifier in such a manner that bass sounds are plainly audible at a distance of 50 feet or more from the property line of a property, location, or premises in which the amplification is located shall be presumed to be violation of this section;
(7) 
The keeping of any animal or bird that causes or makes frequent or long and continued sound that unreasonably disturbs, injures, or endangers the comfort, repose, health, peace, or safety of ordinary, reasonable persons of normal sensibilities and ordinary tastes, habits, and modes of living who reside in the vicinity thereof is hereby prohibited and declared to be unlawful as a sound nuisance in violation of this article, regardless of the time of the occurrence or whether the sound so created by said animal or bird is within the permissible decibel levels specified in this article;
(8) 
The creation of any excessive or unreasonable noise on any street or premises adjacent to any school, place of religious worship, or other institution of learning while the same is in session, or any hospital, which unreasonably interferes with the operation or use of any such institution;
(9) 
The raucous shouting or crying of peddlers, hawkers or vendors which unreasonably disturbs the peace and quiet of any neighborhood;
(10) 
The use of any mechanical device operated by compressed air, unless the noise to be created thereby has been effectively muffled and reduced;
(11) 
The discharge into the open air of the exhaust of any fixed and stationary steam engine, stationary internal combustion engine, or motor vehicle or boat engine, except through an exhaust system in good working order and in constant operation to prevent excessive or unusual noise;
(12) 
The blowing of any steam whistle attached to any stationary boiler, except when giving notice of the time to commence or stop work, or as a warning of danger;
(13) 
Any loud or vociferous language which annoys or disturbs the quiet, comfort or repose of persons in any type of dwelling;
(14) 
The operation of any electrical engine or pump that exceeds the decibel levels set forth in section 8.05.003;
(15) 
Amplified music at any marina produced by any marina owner, renter or user of a boat slip, or any marina owner’s agent, unless a waiver or permit has been granted by the city council.
(16) 
Noise emanating from sound equipment in a watercraft that is audible or causes a vibration 100 feet from the equipment.
(d) 
If conduct that would otherwise violate this article consists of speech or other communication, a gathering with others to hear or observe such speech or communication, or a gathering with others to picket or otherwise express in a non-violent manner a position on social, economic, political or religious questions, the person or persons must be ordered to move, disperse, or otherwise remedy the violation prior to arrest or issuance of citations.
(Ordinance 2009-O-385 adopted 10/8/09; Ordinance 2010-O-394 adopted 6/17/10)
(a) 
In addition to the violations established by the preceding sections of this article, no person shall conduct, permit, or allow any activity or sound source to produce a sound discernible beyond the property on which the sound is being generated that, when measured as provided in this article, exceeds 85 dB(A) during daytime hours and 75 dB(A) during nighttime hours for the respective areas described above. Any sound that exceeds the dB(A) levels set forth in this section under the conditions and measurement criteria set forth herein is a violation of this article. Evidence that an activity or sound source produces a sound that exceeds the dB(A) levels specified in this section shall be prima facie evidence of a sound nuisance that unreasonably disturbs, injures, or endangers the comfort, repose, health, peace, or safety of others in violation of this article.
(b) 
Regardless of the measurable dB(A) level established above, the generator of any sound of such a nature as to cause persons occupying or using any property other than the property upon which the sound is being generated to experience physically detectable sound, vibrations or resonance at a distance of fifty feet (50') from the source of the sound caused by the sound shall also be prima facie evidence of a sound that unreasonably disturbs, injures, or endangers the comfort, repose, health, peace, or safety of others in violation of this article.
(Ordinance 2009-O-385 adopted 10/8/09)
Whenever portions of this article prohibit sound over a certain decibel limit, measurement shall be made with a type 1 or type 2 calibrated sound level meter utilizing the A-weighting scale and the slow meter response as specified by the American Standards Association. Measurements recorded shall be taken so as to provide a proper representation of the sound being measured. The microphone of the meter shall be positioned so as not to create any unnatural enhancement or diminution of the measured sound. A windscreen for the microphone shall be used, if necessary. Traffic, aircraft, and other transportation noise shall not be considered in taking measurements except where such background noise interferes with the noise being measured and cannot reasonably be distinguished from the primary noise. Measurements shall be recorded at a point at least fifty feet (50') from the source from which the sound is being generated or at the property boundary, whichever location is further from the source from which the sound is being generated.
(Ordinance 2009-O-385 adopted 10/8/09)
(a) 
No person shall use or cause to be used any loudspeaker, loudspeaker system, sound amplifier, or any other machine or device that produces, reproduces, or amplifies sound outside of buildings or other enclosed structures in a manner that exceeds the sound decibel levels specified in this article, without first obtaining a permit to do so. No permit is required for any use not exceeding the said permissible levels; provided that no amplified music is allowed at a marina unless authorized by the city council.
(b) 
The permit:
(1) 
Shall be granted only for the amplification of music or human speech, or both;
(2) 
May be obtained by making application to the director of the city department so designated by the city administrator;
(3) 
Requires payment of a $10.00 fee for the administrative costs of issuing the permit or a sworn statement of inability to pay the fee;
(4) 
Is valid for a specifically requested and approved period between the hours therein stated. Such terms of the permit shall be determined and approved by the city council;
(5) 
Shall not be issued to the same or any other person for the same location more than twice during any thirty-day period. In the case of a sound truck, location shall relate to the area traversed by the truck in one day. For special events which will take place over a multiple-day period in a city or POA park, the city council may approve a special permit to accommodate the entire event period in one permit; and
(6) 
Shall specify the maximum sound level permitted.
(c) 
The permit application required to be filed pursuant to this section shall contain the following information:
(1) 
The date of the application and the date and hours for which the permit is requested;
(2) 
The name and address of the applicant;
(3) 
The name and address of the person who will have charge of the sound amplifying equipment;
(4) 
The address and a description of the location where the sound equipment will be used; and
(5) 
A description of the type of sound amplifying equipment to be used.
(d) 
The permit hereby required is not required for the purpose of regulating speech which is protected speech or to conflict with any law of any superior governmental authority.
(e) 
Any regulation hereof that is in conflict with any such right or authority is hereby declared to be inoperative and severable from the other regulations herein.
(Ordinance 2009-O-385 adopted 10/8/09)
The following defenses shall apply to any offense established in this article, and the same must be specifically plead by anyone charged with a violation:
(1) 
The emission of any sound was for the purpose of alerting persons to the existence of an emergency, danger, or attempted crime, or was produced pursuant to any safety rule or regulation of any governmental entity or agency.
(2) 
The sound was produced by an authorized emergency vehicle or law enforcement personnel acting in their official duties.
(3) 
The sound was produced by authorized emergency work or an emergency situation.
(4) 
The sound was generated:
(A) 
By a parade and/or spectators and participants on the parade route during a lawful parade;
(B) 
By spectators and participants at lawfully scheduled amphitheater, ball field or stadium event;
(C) 
By patrons and participants using cannons and gunfire during historical battle re-enactments for which a pyrotechnic permit was obtained and the explosives were inspected by the fire marshal;
(D) 
By a pyrotechnic display that was inspected and approved by the fire marshal; or
(E) 
By spectators and participants of any outdoor event, fun run, race, festival, fiesta, or concert that was sponsored or cosponsored by the city and in full compliance with a permit issued by the city.
(5) 
The sound was produced by operating or permitting the operation of any mechanically powered saw, drill, sander, router, grinder, lawn or garden tool, lawnmower, or any other similar device used between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. when the sound is being produced for the maintenance or upkeep of the property on which it was operated. Golf course mowing and dry stack boat storage operations are permitted to begin at 6:00 a.m.
(6) 
The sound was generated as authorized under the terms of a permit issued under this article.
(7) 
The sound was produced by church bells or church chimes when used during daytime hours for the zone in which the church is located.
(8) 
The sound was produced during daytime hours by activities conducted on public parks, public playgrounds, and public or private school grounds, including, but not limited to, school athletic, band and school entertainment practice or events.
(9) 
The sound source is a motor vehicle and that:
(A) 
The motor vehicle is a mobile sound stage or studio that is being used on a stationary basis at a location not situated upon any street for the purpose of providing sound, during daytime hours, for an event or function; and
(B) 
The use is in compliance with all other provisions of this article.
(Ordinance 2009-O-385 adopted 10/8/09)
(a) 
A person commits an offense if the person makes or permits to be made a noise in violation of a provision of this article. In the event that a tenant or occupant of property violates this article, the city may give notice of the violation to the owner of the property. If the violation continues after such notice has been given, the city may enforce this article against the owner of the property.
(b) 
An offense under this article is a class C misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of not less than $1.00 nor more than $500.00.
(c) 
Each occurrence of a violation, or, in the case of continuous violations, each day a violation occurs or continues, constitutes a separate offense and may be punished separately.
(d) 
A violation of this article is a nuisance. The prosecution of an offense under this article does not limit the city’s right to abate the nuisance, including the use of injunctive or other civil relief.
(e) 
No provision of this article shall be construed to impair any common law or statutory cause of action, or legal remedy therefrom, of any person, for injury or damage arising from any violation of this article or from other law.
(Ordinance 2009-O-385 adopted 10/8/09)