The Town Council finds and declares that:
A. Excessive noise is a serious hazard to public health,
welfare and quality of life in the Town.
B. The technology exists by which excessive noise can
be substantially abated without undue expense or inconvenience.
C. Certain 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 this Town to promote
an environment free from excessive noise without unduly prohibiting,
limiting or otherwise regulating the function of certain noise-producing
equipment which is essential to the economy and quality of life of
the community.
Decibel measurements shall be made with a sound
level meter, which shall be an instrument in good operating condition,
meeting the requirements of a Type I or Type II meter, as specified
by ANSI Standard 1.4-1971. For purposes of this chapter, a sound level
meter shall contain A-weighted scale and both fast and slow meter
response capability.
Unless otherwise expressly stated or the context
clearly indicates a different intention, the following terms shall
have the meanings shown. Definitions of technical terms used shall
be obtained from publications of acoustical terminology issued by
the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) or its successor
body.
AMBIENT SOUND LEVEL
The 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. For the purpose of this chapter, ambient
noise level is the average over 15 minutes, excluding random or intermittent
noises and the alleged offensive noise at the location and time of
day at which a comparison with an alleged offensive noise is to be
made.
A-SCALE (DBA)
The sound level in decibels measured using the A-weighted
network as specified in ANSI 1.4-1971 for sound level meters. The
level is designated dB(A) or dBA.
CONSTRUCTION
Any and all activity necessary or incidental to the erection,
assembling, altering, installing, repair or equipping of buildings,
roadways or utilities, including land-clearing, grading, excavating
and filling.
DECIBEL (DB)
A logarithmic and dimensionless unit of measure often used
in describing the amplitude of sound, equal to 20 times the logarithm
to the base 10 of the ratio of the pressure of the sound measured
to the reference pressure, which is 20 micropascals (20 micronewtons
per square meter).
DEMOLITION
Any dismantling, intentional destruction or removal of structures,
utilities, public or private right-of-way surfaces or similar property.
DWELLING UNIT
A building or portion thereof regularly used for residential
occupancy.
DYNAMIC BRAKING DEVICE
A device, used primarily on trucks and buses to convert the
motor from an internal combustion engine to an air compressor for
the purpose of vehicle braking without the use of wheel brakes.
EMERGENCY WORK
Work made necessary to restore property to a safe condition
following a public calamity, work to restore public utilities or work
required to protect persons or property from imminent exposure to
danger.
IMPULSIVE SOUND
A sound of short duration, usually less than one second,
with an abrupt onset and rapid decay. Examples of sources of impulsive
sound include explosions, drop-forge impacts and the discharge of
firearms.
LOT
Any area, tract or parcel of land owned by or under the lawful
control of one distinct ownership. Abutting platted lots under the
same ownership shall be considered a "lot." The lot line or boundary
is an imaginary line at ground level which separates a lot and its
vertical extension owned by one person from that owned by another.
MIXED USE
A dwelling unit or school located in a business or industrial
zone.
MOTORCYCLE
Any motor vehicle having a saddle or seat for the use of
the rider and designed to travel on not more than three wheels in
contact with the ground. The terms shall include motorized bicycles
and motor scooters.
MOTOR VEHICLE
Any motor-operated vehicle licensed for use on the public
highways, but not including a motorcycle.
NARROW BAND SOUND
Sound characterized by normal listeners as having a predominant
pitch or series of pitches; sound described by such listeners as "whine,"
"hiss," "toot" or "wail"; a sound whose frequencies occupy an octave
band or less.
A. Injures or endangers the safety or health of humans.
B. Annoys or disturbs a reasonable person of normal sensitivities.
C. Endangers or injures personal or real property.
NOISE-SENSITIVE ACTIVITIES
Activities which should be conducted under conditions of
exceptional quiet, including, but not limited to, the operation of
schools, libraries open to the public, churches, hospitals and nursing
home.
OFF-ROAD RECREATIONAL VEHICLE
Any motor vehicle, including road vehicles, but excepting
watercraft, used off public roads for recreational purposes.
PERSON
Any individual, association, partnership or corporation,
including any officer, department, bureau, agency or instrumentality
of the United States, a state or any political subdivision of that
state, including the Town.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF SOUND
A descriptive term, encompassing the steady, impulsive or
narrow band property of the sound, the level of the sound and the
extent to which it exceeds the background sound level.
PLAINLY AUDIBLE (SOUND)
Any sound for which the information content of that sound
is unambiguously communicated to the listener, such as, but not limited
to, understandable spoken speech, comprehension of whether a voice
is raised or normal or comprehensible music rhythms.
POWERED MODEL VEHICLE
Any self-propelled airborne, waterborne or landborne model
plane, vessel or vehicle which is not designed to carry persons, including,
but not limited to, any model airplane, boat, car or rocket.
PUBLIC RIGHT-OF-WAY
Any street, avenue, highway, boulevard, alley, easement or
public space which is owned by or controlled by a public government
entity.
PUBLIC SPACE
Any real property, including any structure thereon, which
is owned or controlled by a governmental entity.
PURE TONE
Any sound which can be distinctly heard as a single pitch
or set of single pitches.
REAL PROPERTY BOUNDARY
An imaginary line along the ground surface, and its vertical
extension, which separates the real property owned by one person from
that owned by another person, but not including intrabuilding real
property divisions.
RECEIVING LAND USE
For the purpose of this chapter, the use or occupancy of
the property which receives the transmission of sound as defined in
this section.
RESIDENTIAL
Any property on which is located a building or structure
used wholly or partially for living or sleeping purposes.
SOUND
An oscillation in pressure, particle displacement, particle
velocity or other physical parameter in a medium with internal forces
that cause compression and rarefaction of that medium. The description
of sound may include any characteristic of such sound, including duration,
intensity and frequency.
SOUND LEVEL
The weighted sound pressure level obtained by the use of
a sound level meter and frequency weighting network, such as A, B
or C, as specified in American National Standards Institute specifications
for sound level meters (ANSI SI.4-1971, or the latest approved revision
thereof). If the frequency weighting employed is not indicated, the
A-weighting shall apply.
SOUND LEVEL METER
An instrument which includes 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 American National Standards Institute Standard 1.4-1971.
SOUND PRESSURE
The instantaneous difference between the actual pressure
and the average or barometric pressure at a given point in space as
produced by sound energy.
SOUND PRESSURE LEVEL
Twenty times the logarithm to the base 10 of the ratio of
the RMS sound pressure to the reference pressure of 20 micronewtons
per square meter (20 x 106 n/m2). The sound pressure level is denoted LP or SPL and
is expressed in decibels.
STEADY SOUND
A sound whose level remains essentially constant (+/-2 dBA)
during the period of observation when measured with the fast response
of the sound level meter.
USED or OCCUPIED
Includes the words "intended, designed or arranged to be
used or occupied."
WATERCRAFT
Any contrivance used or capable of being used as a means
of transportation or recreation on the water.
ZONE
A classification of area of the Town as described in the
Coventry Zoning Ordinance.
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, except those activities controlled by §
169-11.
D. The unamplified human voice.
F. The emission of sound in the performance of military
operations, exclusive of travel by individuals to or from military
duty, except airports which are regulated under another authority.
G. The emission of sound in the discharge of weapons
or in fireworks displays licensed by the Town from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00
p.m.
H. The emission of sound in the operation of snow-removal
equipment.
I. The emission of sound relative to permitted construction
and demolition activities, provided that such activity does not occur
between the hours of 9:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m.
J. The emission of sound in a residential area made in
the course of the maintenance of a dwelling and/or property from 8:00
a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
No person shall make, continue or cause to be
made or continued, except as permitted, any noise disturbance, as
defined in this chapter, or any noise in excess of the limits for
such noise established in this chapter.
No person shall operate, play or permit the
operation or playing of any musical instrument or similar device which
produces sound in such a manner so as to create a noise disturbance
across a residential real property boundary or outdoors within a noise-sensitive
area.
No person shall own an animal which frequently
or for continued duration howls, barks, meows, squawks or makes other
sounds which create a noise disturbance across a residential real
property boundary or within a noise-sensitive area.
All departments and agencies of the Town shall
carry out their programs in furtherance of the policy of this chapter.
Any person found to be in violation of this
chapter shall be punished as follows:
A. The first offense shall be punished by the issuance
of a written warning to cease and desist the violation.
B. The second offense shall be punished by a fine of
$100.
C. The third offense and all subsequent offenses during
the same calendar year shall be punished by a fine of $200.
D. Any entertainment license holder convicted of a fourth
offense in one calendar year shall suffer a three-month suspension
of said entertainment license.