[Vision2020] Noise Ordinance:Decibels In Lewiston City Code

[Garrett Clevenger]

Ted and folks,

Our current NO says this:

Residential and Office Zoning Districts: Sixty-five
(65) dBA during the daytime (7:00 A.M. to 10:00 P.M.)
and fifty-five (55) dBA at nighttime (10:00 P.M. to
7:00 A.M.) as measured at the property line of the
source. 

The only problem, it also says this:

"The following acts, among others, are declared to be
unlawful nuisance noises in violation of this Code
Section, but said enumeration shall not be deemed to
be exclusive; these acts may constitute a violation
even when the noises created are within the limits
contained elsewhere herein"

Which basically means the above dB's are not
necessarily the max dB on your property.

That, combined with removing neighbor complaints and a
warning period leads to this if the council votes to
approve the current NOM:

The police will have the right to give a ticket to
anybody in Moscow at anytime for any "noise" an
officer deems offensive, even if no one complains.

That is a significantly broader than necessary means
of solving the party house problem and I hope the
expected modifications to the amendment will address
this concern.

gclev

My Written Record for Moscow's Noise Ordinance
Modification of 2007:

http://garrettclevenger.com/NOMhistory.html