When is a Noise MORE than a Noise?

The Fayette County Commission is considering changing the current noise ordinance. I suppose I should say Commissioners Herb Frady and Eric Maxwell are pushing to change the noise ordinance.

At a previous Commission meeting Maxwell, at the behest of Frady per Maxwell's comments, wanted the Commission to pursue looking over the current noise ordinance and making some changes to accommodate the individual who possibly caused the re-writing of the ordinance a few years back. Robert Horgan was clearly in the pair’s court at that initial meeting and Jack Smith went along. Peter Pfeifer was opposed. Chief Marshall Collins ended up with the task of looking over the ordinance and making recommendations.

During this Thursday’s meeting (9/27/07) Collins presented his suggestions. He cited a lot of sources and had clearly gone to great lengths to cover all bases. After it was all said and done, he suggested some minor changes including testing the decibel levels from the place homeowners gathered rather than at the edge of their property, changing the need for special exception permits to have to be voted on by the Board and adding an appeal process if permits were denied.

It was clear based on Maxwell’s comments that Collins didn’t get to where he and Frady wanted him to get (video to be posted on YouTube over the weekend). They want a free-for-all window a couple of hours a day on a couple of days a week where dirt bikers and motorcycle riders and any other noisemaker in the county can make higher than currently legal noises.

They haven’t said whether they’ll put a cap on the noise levels during those two-hour freebie windows, but one can only hope that there will be some decibel maximum set for that time frame if they move ahead. The time frame suggested by Maxwell was from 4 – 6 p.m.

When Maxwell spoke, he sounded very reasonable. Why wouldn’t you want that Dad with two young children to be able to ride their dirt bikes at least two days a week?

Hmmm…. Let me get a couple of notepads and see how fast the neighbors who’ll have to put up with the sound can fill ‘em up.

Something the Commissioners seem to forget in all their discussions is that the current noise ordinance doesn’t stop anyone from riding their dirt bikes or motorcycles. It just requires that they keep the noise at a reasonable level. Mufflers work fine. Riding bikes in the middle of 30 acres instead of on the edge of the property works fine. Having only one bike or maybe two instead of 5, 6 or 10 might help, too. I’ll reiterate… the ordinance doesn’t prevent anyone from riding their bikes or making other noises. It just requires them to be considerate of all those around them.

How do you discriminate against every other noisemaker during those two hours? Does that mean that during those two hours every kid with a boom box in the county can turn ‘em up to the max and blast us all away? Can I get my band together on the front porch and entertain my neighbors (whether they like my kind of music or not)? What if I’m a monster truck driver and I want to drive over old cars and crush them on my 40-acre property during those two hours? Can I take the muffler off my drag racers and do wheelies in the back yard for two hours?

Here’s another consideration: How do you pick the right time to allow excessive noise level? As said, Maxwell tossed out 4 – 6 p.m. That is homework time for a lot of kids. Some of the folks who spoke against changing the noise ordinance noted they had 60 plus decibel levels in their children’s bedrooms with windows closed due to the bikes. Don’t know about you, but I know I don’t concentrate very well when there’s a lot of noise.

My granddaughter takes a long nap around 3:30 p.m. every day. I can just imagine what would happen if the bikers (or any sustained loud noise) started blasting during her naptime. What about those who eat dinner at 5 p.m. or even 5:30 p.m.? What if you work the night shift and that’s your sleep time? What if you have an autistic child who doesn’t react well to noise? Should you have to move because someone moves into your quiet neighborhood and they want to blow their trumpet in the front yard for two hours? What if they have all their friends over next-door each week and hold a target practice? There is never going to be a good time to annoy all of your neighbors.

What appears to be happening is that the good of the majority is in the process of being pushed aside for the wants of one. There is one landowner who seems to be pushing the Commissioners to change the ordinance. At least he is the only one the Commissioners Maxwell and Horgan mentioned at the initial meeting and he’s the only one who was mentioned in the subsequent meetings. The family in question moved into a quiet neighborhood, built a dirt track, started riding all hours of the day and night causing the 15-plus neighboring households a lot of noisy grief. He has a son who’s aspiring to go pro with his motorcycle riding.

A few years back when the current noise ordinance was put in place, Commissioners visited some of the neighboring properties and heard the bikes. They spent a lot of time researching noise ordinances and other documentation. They put in a noise ordinance that has satisfied the vast majority of citizens in the county and complies with legal standards. According to Chief Marshall Collins, it has made the job of our judges that much easier because they have defined parameters.

How do you enforce a two-hour window? What happens if they ride an extra fifteen minutes? Do you take their two hours away from them as punishment? If you give someone two days a week to ride (or make as much noise as they’d like doing whatever they want), won’t they say that’s not fair, they should have three days, four days, seven? Why only two hours? That’s barely enough time to warm up the old bike. If I’m out of town on Tuesday can I have Thursday instead?

I’m going out to do my own research. So far I haven’t found a noise ordinance that allows a “make-as-much-noise-as-you’d-like” time exception. Generally most places are working hard to tighten their noise ordinance. They want a better quality of life and they’re not looking for ways to decrease quality of life. One of the speakers opposing weakening the noise ordinance said they thought Fayette County tried to be better than other places. Why in the world would anyone, especially some of our Commissioners, want to bring the county down? Why do they want to open a door that the majority is happy to keep closed?

Keep in mind readers, this isn’t about dirt bikes and motorcycles. This is about NOISE. When the current Board makes the changes, and chances are they will based on past performance, across the county noisemakers are going to be rejoicing and noise levels are going to go up for various periods of time. You won’t be able to do anything about intrusive noises during that period of time.

To answer my initial question, a noise is more than a noise when it infringes on your quality of life.

Noisy Neighbors

We’re lucky. At least thus far! We live on five acres at the moment and we’re surrounded by five-acre tracts. We have neighbors on all side, a few with children, but many are much older than we are and have lived here since before we were born. It’s a fairly quiet neighborhood with lots of wildlife and woods.

When the new folks behind us started clearing the back half of their land we were a little concerned. They wiped out all the trees, pretty much razed the area and made what appeared to be paths at first. What if they were putting in a dirt bike track? Would the wonderful silence we enjoyed be marred by the revving of motorcycles or dirt bikes? Would the wild turkeys still come walking across the property with their new chicks in tow? Would the deer steer clear? When our granddaughters came to visit would their naps be interrupted by roaring engines? Would we have to walk to the front of the house to hold a conversation on the phone at times? What about our good friends who occasionally brought their autistic child over? He has a difficult time with noises.

Many in Fayette County have had that nightmare happen in recent years. New neighbors moved in who wiped out paths and wiped out their peaceful way of life. Dinners interrupted. Naps disturbed. Windows that used to stay open kept closed to try and bar some of the noise. No more sitting on the back porch swing watching the hummingbirds.

We were lucky. No bikes, nothing that disturbed our peaceful neighborhood.

The previous Fayette County Commission spent a considerable amount of time not too long ago researching noise ordinances across the country when complaints started coming in from three areas with new or fairly new bike tracts. Multiple bikes were roaring at odd times destroying neighbors quality of life. The Commission crafted a well-researched, well-thought-out ordinance that would allow those with dirt bikes to ride, yet would protect the lifestyle of their neighbors.

By adding a muffler the bikers could ride to their hearts content without hitting the 55 decibel threshold. Or, if they chose not to add a muffler, they could stick to the middle of their property and chances were in most cases the noise level wouldn’t hit the nuisance level.

Some aren’t willing to buy mufflers. Some properties are such that they must ride on the boundaries of the property.

Now it seems that one of the bikers who didn’t like the compromise has found a willing ear or two on the current County Commission. They are looking at changing the noise ordinance to take care of the dirt bike riders.

Why? It could just be that these new guys are just that --- new. They are in a rush to make all kinds of changes before they’ve even figured out how things really work.

Another possibility is that every citizen who ever had a vote go against them is now bending the ears of the new guys. Maybe they were angry because the noise ordinance didn’t go their way. Maybe they wanted a piece of property zoned and were denied. They supported those who ran against the ones who turned them down, now they’re looking for payback.

Or, is it being pushed through by Commissioner Herb Frady? It appears that every vote Frady lost is now being brought up again. Is this just another in a series of vote and policy reversals, or attempted reversals, that have been happening since January 1st? We’ve seen the issue between the Shenadoah and Highland Hills subdivisions brought up, sewer from Peachtree City into the county, the zoning request for the property on Ebenezer Church Road, the firing of Chris Venice (County Manager) and Bill McNally (County Attorney), the list goes on and now includes the noise ordinance.

People have a right to enjoy their property. People have the right to ride dirt bikes. I’ve ridden a few in my lifetime. However, my rights and those of the bikers, stops at the edge of our property. When the noise travels across that property line and destroys or seriously infringes on the rights of neighbors it’s reasonable to expect a remedy.

During the recent meeting where the Commissioners discussed the noise ordinance some ideas were tossed out. Limiting the time when they could ride bikes. It can’t be during school hours because most of the riders are probably school age. Should it be during the kids nap time? During dinner? What about the third-shift workers sleep time? Early Saturday morning when many people want to sleep in? During the time when kids are doing their homework? Should all the neighbors who were there first be polled to see if there’s a good time for excessive noise?

Why not use mufflers? Why not try to get along with the folks who were there first? If a bike track moved in behind us, how easy would it be for us to sell our property? Would we have to disclose the disturbance? Would our property values decrease? Why bring this back up?

At least one of the Commissioners lives on a huge tract of land. He could solve the problem simply by inviting them to come ride on his property. Oops, I bet the neighbors would complain.

View the County Commission as Commissioner Eric Maxwell brings the item up for discussion at the behest of Commissioner Herb Frady: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVmgibsXfJk