October 7, 2002 ORDINANCE NO. 2002-375 An Ordinance to Amend Article IV of Chapter 15, of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Elmira, as amended. By Councilmember Williams : BE IT ORDAINED, by the Council of the City of Elmira, duly convened in regular session this 7th day of October, 2002, as follows: Section 1. The Code of Ordinances of the City of Elmira, New York is hereby amended by repealing Article IV of Chapter 15 of the Code and by adding a new Article IV of Chapter 15, which article shall read as follows: Sec. 15-35. Short Title. CHAPTER 15 ARTICLE IV NOISE CONTROL This article shall be known as the noise control ordinance of the City of Elmira. Sec. 15-36. Policy. Whereas excessive noise is a serious hazard to the public health and welfare, safety, and quality of life and people have a right to and should be ensured an environment free from excessive noise, it is therefore declared to be the policy of the City of Elmira to prevent excessive noise. It is further declared that the provisions and prohibitions hereafter contained and enacted are in pursuance of and for the purpose of preserving, protecting and promoting the health, comfort, convenience, peace and quiet of the City of Elmira and its inhabitants. This article shall be liberally construed so as to effectuate the purposes described in this section. Sec. 15-37. Definitions. [As used in this article, the following words shall have the meaning ascribed thereto:] Activity shall mean any act or combination of acts which causes the production of sound. Animals shall mean any animal under the control of an individual, including birds. Construction shall mean any or all activity necessary or incidental to the erection, demolition, assembling, altering, installing or equipment of buildings, public or private highways, roads, premises, parks, utility lines (including such lines in already constructed tunnels) or other property, including land clearing, grading, excavating and filling. Emergency shall means a public calamity or an exposure of any person or property to imminent danger. Emergency Signal Device shall mean 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 Vehicle and Traffic Law. Elmira City Hall E-Document Page 1
Excessive Noise shall mean any sound which endangers or injures the safety or health of humans or animals or annoys or disturbs a reasonable person of normal sensitivity or endangers or injures personal or real property. Motor Vehicle shall mean 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. This definition shall include but is not limited to trucks, buses, automobiles, vans, motorcycles, motor-driven cycles, motor scooters, dune buggies, snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles, go-carts, minibikes, trail bikes and all other types of motorized recreational vehicles. Noise shall mean any sound of such a level and duration as to be or tend to be injurious to human health or welfare; or which would unreasonably interfere with the enjoyment of life or property. Owner shall mean any person who has regular control of a device or site, including but not limited to, the owner of the freehold of the premises or lesser estate therein, or an agent of such person. Person shall mean any individual, partnership, company, corporation, association firm, organization, governmental agency, administration or department or any other group of individuals, or any officer or employee thereof. Real Property Line shall mean an imaginary line along the surface of the ground and its vertical extension, which separates the real property owned by one (1) person from that owned by another person, but not including intra-building real property divisions. Sound Reproduction Device shall mean a device intended for the production or reproduction of sound, including but not limited to any radio receiver, television receiver, tape recorder, compact disc player, musical instrument, phonograph or sound amplifying system. Sec. 15-38. Excessive noise prohibited. No person shall make, continue or cause or permit to be made or continued any excessive noise. Sec. 15-39. Sound reproduction devices for commercial or advertising purposes. No person shall operate or use or cause to be operated or used any sound reproduction device for commercial or business advertising purposes or for the purpose of attracting attention to any performance, show or sale or display of merchandise in connection with any commercial or business enterprise, including those engaged in the sale of radios, television sets, phonographs, tape recorders, compact disc players, phonograph records, tapes or compact discs in front or outside of any building, place or premises or on or through any aperture of such building, place or premises abutting on or adjacent to a public street, park or place or in or upon any vehicle operated, standing or being in or on any public street, park or place where the sound therefrom may be heard upon any public street, park or place or from any stand, platform or other structure or from any airplane or other device used for flying, flying over the city or on a boat or on the waters within the jurisdiction of the city or anywhere on the public streets, parks or places; provided, however, that nothing in this section shall prohibit vehicles from which ice cream products or similar products are sold from being equipped with a bell or bell-like device, nor prohibit the use thereof by the driver of such vehicle, provided that no such bell or bell-like device shall be capable of being heard from a distance greater than four hundred (400) feet and provided further that no such bell or bell-like device shall be used for any purpose between the hours of 9:00p.m. and 9:00 a.m. the following day nor be used as an ordinary warning signal at any time. Elmira City Hall E-Document Page 2
Sec. 15-40. 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, compact disc player, musical instrument or other machine or device for the producing, reproducing or amplification of sound with louder volume than is necessary for convenient hearing for the person or persons who are voluntary listeners thereto. It shall be prima facie evidence of a violation of this section if sound emanating from such machine or device is: (1) Audible beyond the property lines of the premises upon which it is being used between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m. the following day. (2) Audible at a distance of fifty (50) feet beyond the property line of the premises upon which it is being used between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. of the same day. (3) Audible at a distance of fifty (50) feet from such machine or device if operated from within a motor vehicle on a public street. (4) Audible at a distance of fifty (50) feet from such machine or device when operated in a public park or other public place. B. The provisions of this section shall not apply to the following: (1) Funeral processions or use of such devices by a church. (2) The production of music in connection with any parade authorized under any provision of law. (3) Any musical performance upon a public place where a permit has been obtained from the City Clerk for such purpose. (4) The use of amplifiers or other sound producing instruments or equipment in connection with any religious or political activity or any permitted athletic competition or recreational event held on athletic fields, stadiums or public places in the city. C. Any motor vehicle used in connection with the commission of a violation of this section may be towed in accordance with 25-137 of the Code of Ordinances. Sec. 15-41. Animals and birds. (a) No person shall own, possess or harbor any animal or bird which frequently or for continued duration, makes excessive noise which is audible across a real property boundary. (b) For the purpose of this section, a Abarking dog@ which makes excessive noise may be defined as a dog that barks continuously for ten (10) minutes or intermittently for thirty (30) minutes. Elmira City Hall E-Document Page 3
Sec. 15-42. Burglar alarms. No person shall sound or permit the sounding of any exterior burglar alarm on any building or motor vehicle unless such alarm shall terminate its operation within fifteen (15) minutes of its being activated. Notwithstanding this provision, any member of the police department of the City of Elmira shall have the authority to take such steps as may be necessary to disconnect any such alarm at any time when such alarm is operating. Any motor vehicle on which a burglar alarm has been installed and armed shall, when parked in a public highway, prominently display a telephone number at which communication may normally be made with the owner or operator of such motor vehicle. Sec. 15-43. Sound reproduction devices on public conveyances. No person shall operate or use any radio, musical instrument, television, phonograph or other machine or device in or on any bus or public means of conveyance, other than taxicabs, in such manner that the sound emanating from such sound reproduction device is audible to another person. Sec. 15-44. Churches, courts, hospitals and schools. No person shall cause or permit the creation of any excessive noise through the use of any device on any street, sidewalk or public place adjacent to any church, court or school while such church, court or school is in use, or adjacent to any hospital at any time, provided that signs are displayed so as to identify such church, court, school or hospital. Sec. 15-45. Construction. No person shall operate or permit the operation of any tools or equipment used in construction, drilling, or demolition work between the hours of 9:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. the following day on any day of the week. The provisions of this section shall not apply to the following: (1) Emergency work or action by public service utilities; (2) Domestic power tools; (3) By special variance issued pursuant to section 15-54 of this article; (4) When the sound is not audible across a real property boundary. Sec. 15-46. Domestic power tools. No person shall operate or permit the operation of any motorized or mechanically powered saw, drill, sander, grinder, lawn or garden tool, or similar device used outdoors in residential areas between the hours of 8:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m. the following day on weekdays and from 8:00 p.m. to 9:00 a.m. the following day on weekends so as to be audible across a real property boundary. Sec. 15-47. Use of signaling devices. No person shall cause the sounding of any horn or signaling device on any automobile, motorcycle, bicycle or other vehicle, except as a danger warning. Elmira City Hall E-Document Page 4
Sec. 15-48. Emergency signal devices. No person shall operate or use or cause to be operated or used any emergency signal device except: (1) On an emergency vehicle when such vehicle is in the immediate act of responding to an emergency; (2) To give notice as a warning of an emergency; or (3) In order to reasonably test such device. Sec. 15-49. Exhausts; mufflers and exhaust systems; prevention of noise. Every motor vehicle, operated or driven upon the streets of Elmira, shall at all times be equipped with an adequate muffler and exhaust system in constant operation and properly maintained to prevent any excessive noise and no such muffler or exhaust system shall be equipped with a cut-out, bypass or similar device. No person shall modify the muffler or exhaust system of a motor vehicle in a manner which will amplify or increase the noise emitted by the motor or exhaust system of such vehicle above that emitted by the muffler or exhaust system originally installed on the vehicle and such original muffler and exhaust system shall comply with all the requirements of this section. A Amuffler@ is a device consisting of a series of chambers or baffle plates, or other mechanical design for the purpose of receiving exhaust gas from an internal combustion engine, and effective in reducing noise. An Aexhaust system@ is a series of mechanical devices for the purpose of receiving exhaust gas from an internal combustion engine and expelling it into the atmosphere. pipes.@ No person shall sell, install or use a motorcycle exhaust device without internal baffles, known as Astraight Sec. 15-50. Loading and unloading. No person shall make or permit to be made excessive noise in connection with loading or unloading of any vehicle or the opening, unloading or destruction of bales, boxes, crates, containers or construction material. Sec. 15-51. Motor vehicle repairs and testing. It shall be unlawful for any person within any residential area of the city to repair, rebuild, or test any motor vehicle, motorcycle or motor boat, in such a manner as to create sound audible beyond the property lines of the premises upon which it is being repaired, rebuilt or tested, between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m. the following day. Sec. 15-52. Places of public entertainment. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 15-44, no person shall operate or permit to be operated a place of public entertainment, including but not limited to a restaurant, bar, café, discotheque, or dance hall, in such a manner as to create sound audible beyond the property lines of the premises upon which it is being generated, between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m. the following day. Sec. 15-53. Violation. Any noise originating from a satisfactory property location which is heard at the property line from which the sound is emanating, or beyond, and found to be audible at a time or place prohibited in this article shall be considered a violation of this article. Elmira City Hall E-Document Page 5
Sec. 15-54. Exceptions and variances. (a) The provisions of this article shall not apply to the emission of sound for the purpose of alerting persons to the existence of an emergency or in the performance of emergency work or action. (b) The City of Elmira shall establish regulations governing exceptions, variances and appeals; such regulations shall be subject to the approval of the city council prior to the promulgation thereof. (c) The City of Elmira shall have the authority to grant special variances which may be requested. Sec. 15-55. Penalty. In addition to the general penalties set forth in section 1-7 of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Elmira, any person violating any of the terms of this article shall be liable to a fine not to exceed fifty dollars ($50.00) for each violation thereof. Each day of violation of any provision of this article shall constitute a separate offense. Sec. 15-56. Severability. If any provision of this article or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is adjudged invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, such judgment shall not effect or impair the applicability thereof to other provisions of the article or the application thereof to other persons or circumstances. Section 2. All ordinances and parts of ordinances heretofore passed which are in conflict or are inconsistent with any provision or provisions of this ordinance are hereby repealed. Section 3. Effective Date. This ordinance shall take effect immediately upon adoption and publication according to law. ADOPTED BY THE FOLLOWING VOTE AYES X Councilmember Corsi X Councilmember Royle X Councilmember McLaughlin X Councilmember Hare Absent Councilmember Hopkins X Councilmember Williams X Mayor Hughes NAYS Elmira City Hall E-Document Page 6