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"Good Neighbors Keep Their Noise to Themselves"

Conesus, NY Noise Ordinance
(NPC entered this May 2004)



Local Law #1 - 2004 - "Town of Conesus Noise Ordinance."
(this is the final version - 4/6/04 - voted unanimously by the Town Board)

§ Section 1. Declaration of policy:

The Town Board of the Town of Conesus hereby declares its intent to prevent unreasonably loud and disturbing noise and sounds that are determined by the Board to be of a character, intensity or duration as to be detrimental to the peace, welfare or good order of the people of the Town of Conesus. The Town Board intends to improve and promote the quality of life in our community, and in the exercise of its lawful enforcement in this regard, the Town Board does hereby enact the following local law. It is the intent of the Town Board that this law will be liberally constructed so as to effectuate the purpose described. The Town Board also acknowledges Article 25-AA of the NYS Agriculture and Markets Law that exempts a farm in an Agricultural District #2 from the provisions of this ordinance.

§ Section 2. Definitions:

As used in this law, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated below, others shall have the meanings normally ascribed to them by the standard accepted dictionary definitions.

DECIBEL (dB)- A unit for measuring the volume of a sound, as determined by a sound testing instrument. The NYS Vehicle and Traffic Law sets unacceptable noise levels at between 72 dB and 90 dB. For purposes of this law a decibel level exceeding 90 dB shall be a nuisance noise.

EMERGENCY -- A public disaster or an exposure of any person or property to imminent danger.

EMERGENCY SIGNAL DEVICE -- Any gong, siren, whistle, air horn or similar device, the use of which on emergency vehicles is permitted by Subdivision 26 of § 375 of the New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law.

EXCESSIVE NOISE -- Incessant or repeated sounds that have the effect of disturbing member(s) of the community, or any sound in excess of 90 dB (as described in DECIBEL definition) that is annoying, a nuisance or causes alarm to any person(s). Such sound includes but is not limited to mechanically-increased volume of sounds of the human voice, musical instruments, recorded music, or any other mechanically enhanced sound-producing or sound-reproducing device that is able to increase normal noise volume levels.

MOTOR VEHICLE-
A. Every device in, upon or by which any person or property is or may be transported or drawn, which is propelled by any power other than muscular power, except vehicles which run only upon rails or tracks.

B. This definition shall include but not be limited to trucks, buses, automobiles, vans, motorcycles, motor scooters, dune buggies, snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles, go-carts, minibikes, trail bikes and all other types of sound producing motorized objects used for recreation or transport.

§ Section 3. Prohibited Acts:

A. Excessive noise - No person shall make, continue or cause to be made, or continued, any excessive noise after the time limitations listed in this section.

B. Under no circumstances shall a citizen of the Town of Conesus be exposed to excessive noise between the hours of 11:00 p.m. of one day and 7:00 a.m. of the next day starting on Sunday at 7:00 a.m. until the Friday of that week. From Friday until Sunday there shall be no excessive noise between the hours of 2:00 a.m. and 7:00 a.m. of the same day. Time restrictions shall be on Saturday and Sunday early morning hours. The time restriction for those days shall be 2:00 a.m. on Saturday to 7:00 a.m. on that same Saturday, and 2:00 a.m. on Sunday to 7:00 a.m. on that same Sunday for the stoppage of excessive noise.

C. Use of signaling devices. No person shall cause the sounding of any horn or signaling device on any automobile, motorcycle, bicycle or other vehicle to be a nuisance, such devices are to be used as a danger warning, as stated in § 375, Subdivision 1, of the New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law.

D. Motor vehicles, excessive noise:

1. No person shall operate, or cause to be operated, any motor vehicle in a manner that the sound emitted is excessive noise as defined in this law, and,
2. The excessive noise is audible at a distance of twenty-five (25) feet or more from the vehicle when operated on a public street or in a park or other public place.

E. The above subsection shall not apply to those motor vehicles being operated upon a public street or roadway to which § 386 of the New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law applies (motor vehicle sound level limits).

F. This section shall apply to all motor vehicles as defined in this law, whether or not duly licensed and/or registered.

§ Section 4. Construction activities:

A. No person shall engage in, or permit any person to be engaged in, construction activities which create excessive noise at the property limits of the construction site between the hours of 10:00 p.m. of one day and 7:00 a.m. of the following day on any day of the week, except as is permitted in Subsections B and C hereof.

B. Following the receipt of a written request stating the reason(s) for relief from the requirements of Subsection A, the Code Enforcement Officer (CEO) of the Town of Conesus, or his designee, may, for a reasonable limited time, grant such relief authorizing exact, though different, time restraints. Such construction activities may be allowed upon the applicant's demonstration of hardship and/or practical difficulty in meeting the constraints of Subsection A, and upon a determination by the CEO that the public interest will be served by the granting of the relief. The CEO shall set any stipulations deemed necessary in the interest of the public health, safety and/or welfare at the time of granting any such relief. The written authorization acquired from the CEO must be maintained on the site and be made available for viewing by any requesting municipal authority.

C. In the case of an emergency, so declared by the CEO, Fire Department or a Police Department, construction activities directly connected to the abatement of such emergency may be undertaken without obtaining any relief from subsection A, for a period not to exceed seventy-two (72) hours from the commencement of such activities. Anticipation of a longer duration must result in the application for relief by the appropriate person, agency, or designee, to the CEO as previously described in subsection B.

§ 5. Sound-reproduction devices used for miscellaneous purposes:

A. No person shall use or operate or permit to be used or operated any radio, television, phonograph, musical instrument or other machine or device for the producing, reproduction or amplification of excessive noise with louder volume in excess of 90 dB (as described in DECIBEL definition) as measured by a properly calibrated sound measuring device operated by a trained person.

B. The provisions of this section shall not apply to the following:

1. Agricultural activities as recognized by the NYS Agriculture and Markets Law Article 25-AA located in Agricultural District #2.
2. Discharging of firearms for the purposes of hunting, or any legal firearm activity. These shall be during the hours and distances permitted and posted by NYS DEC (New York State Department of Environmental Conservation) annually, or as they change.

C. This subsection does not apply during the hours of 11:00 p.m. of one day through 7:00 a.m. of the following day. During these hours Section #3 of this law shall apply.

§ 6. Administration and enforcement:

The Town of Conesus shall administer this law and enforcement shall be, in some instances, by the Town of Conesus CEO (Code Enforcement Officer), but mostly by the Police Agency/Officer responding to the citizen(s) complaint.

§ 7. Penalties for offenses:

A. Any person who violates any portion of this law, or harbors any device which creates a violation of this law, shall be guilty of a violation and, upon conviction, shall be punished by a fine of not less than one hundred fifty dollars ($150.) nor more than three hundred fifty dollars ($350.) or by imprisonment for up to fifteen (15) days, or both.

B. The owner of any property and any person, firm, association or corporation in control of the real property where the violation(s) of this chapter occur(s) shall be guilty of a separate violation and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined or imprisoned as herein provided above in subsection A.

C. A separate offense shall be deemed committed on each day, 24 continuous hours, during which a violation occurs or continues.

§ Section 8. Acceptance:

This local law and any regulations adopted hereunder shall take effect as provided by law and upon filing with the Secretary of State.

§ Section 9. Severability:

If any section, subsection, paragraph, sentence, clause or provision of this local law shall be adjudged by any court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such adjudication shall not affect, impair or invalidate the remainder thereof, but shall be confined in its operation to the section, subsection, paragraph, sentence, clause or provision thereof directly involved in the controversy in which such judgments shall have been.

Informational footnotes:

NOTE #1: Quote from the NYS Vehicle and Traffic Law: "A-weighted sound level shall mean the sound pressure level measured by the use of an instrument with the metering characteristics and A-weighting frequency response prescribed for sound level meters. Sound pressure level shall mean twenty times the logarithm to the base ten of the ratio of the root mean squared pressure of a sound to a reference pressure of twenty micropascals. The unit applied to this measure shall be the decibel (dB)."

NOTE #2: NYS Vehicle and Traffic Law determines decibels by 35 mph or less, or more than 35 mph. The maximum decibel (dB) level in any instance is 90 dB for the highest (over 35 mph) and 72 dB for the lowest (at 35 mph or less). Therefore the sound measurement level for a nuisance noise should be at 90 dB.

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