City.
The City of Pecan Hill, employees or any authorized representative
of the city.
Construction.
Any site preparation, assembly, erection, substantial repair,
alteration, or similar action (excluding demolition) of public or
private right-of-way surfaces, structures, utilities or similar property.
Demolition.
Any dismantling, intentional destruction or removal of public
or private right-of-way surfaces, structures, utilities or similar
property.
Device.
Any mechanism which is intended to produce, or which actually
produces, noise when operated or handled.
Emergency vehicle.
A motor vehicle used in response to a public calamity or
to protect persons or property from an imminent exposure to danger.
Motor vehicle.
Any vehicle propelled by mechanical power, such as, but not
limited to, any passenger car, truck, truck-trailer, semi-trailer,
camper, motorcycle, mini-bike, pocket bike, go-cart, dune buggy or
racing vehicle.
Noise disturbance.
Any sound which annoys or disturbs, or which causes or tends
to cause an adverse psychological or physiological effect upon, the
sensibilities of a reasonable, prudent, adult person, and unreasonably
loud or disturbing noise which renders the enjoyment of life or property
uncomfortable or interferes with public peace and comfort.
Nonresidential district.
Any district not classified by the zoning ordinance as containing
residential homes, apartments or condominiums.
Owner.
Any person having supervision or control of any property.
Power equipment.
Any motorized electric or fuel powered equipment, including
but not limited to tractors, lawnmowers, and other similar devices
or equipment.
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.
Any lot, tract, parcel of land or a portion thereof, occupied
or unoccupied, improved or unimproved, public or private, within the
territorial limits of the city.
Property boundary.
An imaginary line, exterior to any enclosed structure, at
the surface and its vertical extension, which separates the real property
owned by one person from that owned by another person.
Quiet zone.
Property on which a school, hospital, clinic, library or
other noise disturbance sensitive facility is operated.
Residential district.
Any district classified by the zoning ordinance as containing
residential homes, apartments, condominiums or dwelling units.
Roadway.
Any street, alley, parkway, sidewalk or gutter.
All terminology used in this article and not specifically
defined above shall retain its meaning in conformance with applicable
publications of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) or
its successor body and/or the latest volume of Webster’s Collegiate
Dictionary.
Any person violating any of the provisions of this article shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine in accordance with the general penalty provided in section
1.01.009 of this code. A separate offense shall be deemed committed upon each day during or on which a violation or failure to comply occurs. Notwithstanding the foregoing, in the event a citation is issued for a violation hereof and the violator commits another act on the same day in the same manner, a separate violation shall be deemed to exist for which a separate citation may issue and an enhanced penalty may be assessed not to exceed the maximum penalty ascribed herein. Allegation and evidence of a culpable mental state is not required for the proof of an offense defined by this article.
The following sources of potential noise disturbance shall be
exempt from the regulations of this article:
(1) Safety
signals, storm warning sirens or horns and the testing of such equipment,
emergency vehicle sirens or horns used when responding to an emergency,
and emergency pressure relief valves.
(2) Sound
caused in the performance of emergency or public service work, including
police, fire and public utility operations, acting in the performance
of lawful duties to protect the health, safety or welfare of the community.
(3) Sounds
caused by natural phenomena.
(4) Activities
conducted on public parks and playgrounds which are approved, sponsored
or sanctioned by the city. Activities conducted on public or private
school grounds, including, but not limited to, school athletic and
school entertainment events which are approved, sponsored or sanctioned
by the school.
(5) Agricultural
activities, e.g., planting, haying, plowing, spraying, harvesting,
maintenance of crop fields, loading and unloading of farm animals
including horses, building or repairing crop or animal fencing or
corrals or any other activity directly related to an obvious cultural
use. This does not include the maintenance and repair of agricultural
machinery.
(a) The
city council is authorized to grant permits for relief of any provision
in this article on the basis of undue hardship in cases where:
(1) The sound source will be of short duration and the activity cannot
be conducted in a manner as to comply with this article;
(2) Additional time is necessary for the applicant to alter or modify
their activity or operation to comply with this article; or
(3) No reasonable alternative is available to the applicant.
(b) A fee as set forth in the fee schedule in appendix
A of this code shall be charged to each applicant for processing permit applications.
(2000 Code, secs. 7.401, 7.402; 2006 Code, secs. 8.401, 8.402; Ordinance
09-05 adopted 7/21/09; Ordinance adopting 2017 Code)