Greensboro has a noise ordinance, as a matter of fact we have several, but they are all very subjective. If a complaint is lodged by a citizen who says they are being disturbed, it is up to the responding police officer's ears to determine if the the disturbance is indeed excessive. If the complaintant is unlucky enough to get their call answered by a hard-of-hearing police officer, nothing will likely be done. If a disturbance repeats itself over many nights, each officer who responds must make their own determination if the noise is excessive.
Greensboro is looking to modernize its noise ordinance. I attended the second meeting of downtown boosters, downtown neighborhood leaders and City staff last week to continue the process of finding the balance between a vibrant center city and certain quality of life expectations on the part of folks who live near such vibrancy. We are getting somewhere.
The series of meeting was triggered by an ordinance change with respect to the times certain functions could operate in the Central Business District by the City Council back in June. Downtown neighborhood residents caught wind of the ordinance change and had objections to it, so the City Council directed City Staff to review the matter in consultation with interested parties. The first meeting of the group was held in early July.
City Attorney Terry Wood and others have been looking into how other cities address noise because we, as a group, figured there was no reason to re-invent the wheel if othe municipalities had already done the leg work and enacted an ordinance that was fair and workable.
At last week's meeting, we were given a presentation by the member of the Charlotte/Meck police department who heads that city's noise compliance section. Charlotte's noise ordinance relies on objective measurments of noise via some slick measuring devices that many patrol cars keep in their trunk. If they arrive on the scene and the decibel reading emanating from any amplified source is in excess of 65db from the nearest property line - the noise maker is warned. If the noise continues abouve 65db and the officer returns, a $100 fine is issued and the machine's readings are kept for evidence in case of appeal. Kind of like a radar gun for noise.
They can issue a temporary permit for special events whcih allows the decibel limit to rise to 75db and also extends the hours that such noise can continue from 11:00p until midnight, but Charlotte's ordinance limits the number of yearly hours such events can occur at any single address. It is all quite cut-and-dried.
We are making progress and everyone agreed that these measuring devices are the way to go, albeit expensive (around $3,000 per unit, Charlotte has 16 of them).
As usual, I'll keep you posted
9:07:15 AM 
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