The city has established a quality of life and environment in
which peace and quiet is highly valued by its residents, visitors
and businesses. The existence of excessive noise within the city is
a condition which is detrimental to the health, safety, comfort, welfare
and quality of life of the citizenry and shall be regulated in the
public interest. This chapter has been created to implement the goals
and policies of the noise element of the city's general plan and to
prohibit undesirable noises in the community. This chapter shall be
referred to and cited as the Rancho Mirage noise ordinance.
(Ord. 633 § 1(Exh. A),
1995)
"Ambient noise level"
means the all encompassing noise level associated with a
given environment, being a composite of sounds from all sources, excluding
the alleged offensive noise, at the location and approximate time
at which a comparison with the alleged offensive noise is to be made.
"Cumulative period"
means an additive period of time consisting of individual
time segments which may be continuous or interrupted.
"Decibel (dBA)"
means a unit of sound level measured on a sound level meter
using the A-weighting network.
"Emergency"
means any occurrence or set of circumstances involving actual
or imminent physical danger, crisis, trauma or property damage which
demands immediate action.
"Noise level"
means the same as sound level the terms are interchangeable.
"Person"
means any individual, association, partnership, corporation,
organization, or public agency, including associated officer(s), employee(s)
or department(s).
"Sound level"
means the quantity of decibels measured using the frequency
weighting of A of a sound level meter.
"Sound level meter"
means an instrument meeting the American National Standards
Institute's standard S1.4-1983 or later revision, for Type 1 or Type
2 specifications; or an instrument and the associated recording and
analyzing equipment which will provide equivalent data.
(Ord. 633 § 1(Exh. A),
1995)
No person shall operate or cause to be operated any source of
sound or allow the creation of sound or noise on property owned, leased,
occupied or otherwise controlled by such person which causes the noise
level, as measured on any other property, to exceed:
A. The
noise level for the applicable zone specified in Table A-1 for a cumulative
period of more than thirty minutes in any hour of the applicable time
period.
Table A-1
|
---|
Land Use/Zone
|
Time of Day
|
Noise Level (dBA)
|
---|
Residential, Low Density (R-E, H-R, R-L-2, R-L-3)
|
7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.
|
55
50
45
|
Residential, Medium and High Density, Hospital, Open Space (OS,
R-M, R-H, MHP)
|
7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.
|
60
55
50
|
Commercial Office, Resort Commercial, Mixed Use, Institutional
(O, P, Rs-H, M-U)
|
7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.
|
65
60
55
|
Commercial Neighborhood, General Commercial, Commercial Recreation,
Light Industrial (C-N, C-G, I-L)
|
7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.
|
70
65
60
|
B. For
cumulative periods of time less than thirty minutes in an hour, all
the noise standards in Table A-1 are increased according to Table
B-1.
Table B-1
|
---|
Duration of Sound
|
dBA Adjustment
|
---|
15—30 minutes per hour
|
+ 3
|
10—15 minutes per hour
|
+ 5
|
5—10 minutes per hour
|
+ 10
|
1—5 minutes per hour
|
+ 15
|
Any period of time less than 1 minute per hour
|
+ 20
|
C. If the
measured ambient noise level exceeds the dBA limits in Table A-1,
the noise limits and their adjustments for the first three categories
in Table B-1 shall be increased in five dBA increments as needed to
encompass or reflect said ambient noise level. The maximum noise level
under the last two categories in Table B-1 shall be increased, if
necessary, only to equal the ambient noise level.
(Ord. 633 § 1(Exh. A),
1995; Ord. 1015 § 2, 2011)
A. The
location selected for measuring exterior noise levels shall be at
the point of the property line of the affected property nearest the
alleged offending noise source. If possible, the ambient noise shall
be measured at the same location along the property line.
B. If the
measurement location is on a boundary between two different locations,
the noise level limit applicable to the lower noise zone shall apply.
C. Upon
receipt of a complaint or a request to investigate, the code compliance
officer, equipped with an American National Standards Institute Type
2 or better sound level meter, may investigate the complaint. The
investigation shall consist of measurements and the gathering of data
to adequately define the noise problem and shall include the following:
1. Type
and measurement of noise source;
2. Location
of noise source relative to complainant's or affected property;
3. Time
period during which noise source is considered to be intrusive;
4. Total
duration of noise levels measured;
5. Date(s)
and time(s) of noise measurement survey.
(Ord. 633 § 1(Exh. A),
1995)
The following activities and noise sources shall be exempted
from the provisions of this chapter:
A. School
bands, school athletic and other activities occurring on a school
campus;
B. Outdoor
gatherings, dance, shows, entertainment for events authorized through
the city's special events process;
C. Activities
conducted in public parks and public playgrounds that are dependent
upon such facilities for their operation;
D. Any
emission of sound for purposes of alerting persons to an emergency
or the general emission of sound during performance of emergency work;
E. Construction,
alteration, repair, grading or improvement of any building, structure,
road or improvement to real property for which a permit has been issued
by the city if said construction occurs within the allowable hours
set forth in Section 15.04.030(A)(10);
F. The
operation of any equipment and machinery at any time within any zone
by the city, its employees, or any agent or franchisee of the city
in the course of performing maintenance, construction or trash collection.
(Ord. 633 § 1(Exh. A),
1995)
It is unlawful and a nuisance for any person to keep, maintain
or permit upon any lot or parcel of land within the city under his
or her control any animal, including any fowl, which by any sound
or cry shall habitually disturb the peace and comfort of any person
in the reasonable and comfortable enjoyment of life or property.
(Ord. 633 § 1(Exh. A),
1995)
A. It is
unlawful and a public nuisance for any person to permit or perform
for-hire landscape and non-emergency exterior hardscape maintenance
activities such as, but not limited to, tree trimming, re-seeding,
lawn mowing, leaf blowing, dust and debris clearing and any other
landscaping or nonemergency exterior hardscape maintenance activities
which utilize any motorized saw, sander, drill, grinder, leaf-blower,
lawnmower, hedge trimmer, edger, or any other similar tool or device
any time on Saturday and Sunday and between the hours of six p.m.
and seven a.m. the next day during weekdays, unless otherwise provided
in this section.
B. The
regular mowing or grooming of golf courses, grass tennis courts, grass
croquet courts, and lawn bowling areas shall be exempt from the restrictions
set forth in this section. The allowed work hours for mowing or green
preparation for golf courses, grass tennis courts, grass croquet courts,
and lawn bowling areas shall be between five thirty a.m. and seven
p.m., seven days per week and during all seasons of the year.
C. Nothing set forth in this section shall permit any person from engaging in any activities that exceed the exterior noise level limits set forth in Section
8.45.030 or otherwise constitute a public nuisance as set forth in Section
14.60.325 of the Municipal Code.
(Ord. 936, § 3, 2006; Ord. 979, § 1, 2009)
The noise control program established by this chapter shall
be administered by and is the responsibility of the code compliance
division as directed by the director of the community development
department.
(Ord. 633 § 1(Exh. A),
1995)
Violations of this chapter are declared to be a nuisance and subject to the procedures, remedies and penalties set forth in Title
14.
(Ord. 633 § 1(Exh. A),
1995; Ord. 916 § 4, 2006)