CITY
OF SALISBURY
ORDINANCE
NO. 1967
AN ORDINANCE of the Mayor and the
Council of the City of Salisbury to amend Chapter 8.20 of the City Code to prohibit
certain conduct on commercial property and to provide penalties for violations.
WHEREAS, the Mayor
and City Council have received numerous complaints from residents of the City
regarding disturbing noises from commercial properties located in close
proximity to residential zones.
WHEREAS, the
Mayor and Council desire to prohibit certain conduct on commercial properties
to protect the citizens of the City from unreasonable disturbances caused by
noise.
NOW, THEREFORE,
be it enacted and ordained by the City Council of the City of Salisbury, in
regular session, as follows:
1. That Section 8.20.020 of the Salisbury
City Code shall be amended as set forth below:
Section 8.20.020
Prohibited noises enumerated.
The following
acts, among others, are hereby declared to be unreasonably loud noises, in
violation of this Chapter:
A. Horns, Signaling Devices, etc. The sounding of any horn or signaling device
on any automobile, motorcycle or other vehicle on any street or other
public place of the City, except as a danger warning; the creation by means of
any such signaling device of any unreasonably load or harsh sound; the sounding
of any such device for an unnecessary and unreasonable period of time; the use
of any signaling device except one operated by hand or electricity; the use of
any
horn, whistle or
other device operated by engine exhaust; and the use of any such signaling
device when traffic is for any reason held up.
B. Radios, Phonographs, etc.
1. The using, operating or permitting to be
played, used or operated any radio receiving set, musical instrument,
phonograph or other machine or device for the producing or reproducing of sound
in such manner as to disturb the peace, quiet and comfort of the neighboring
inhabitants or at any time with louder volume than is necessary for convenient
hearing for the persons who are in the room, vehicle or chamber in which such
machine or device is operated and who are voluntary listeners thereto; the
operation of any such set, instrument, phonograph, machine or device between
the hours of eleven p.m. and seven a.m. in such a manner as to be plainly
audible at a distance of fifty (50) feet from the building, structure or
vehicle in which it is located shall be prima facie evidence of a violation.
2. The using, operating or permitting to be
played, used or operated any radio receiving set, musical instrument,
phonograph or other machine or device for the producing or reproducing of sound
on any street or other public ways in such a manner as is unreasonably loud so
as to disturb the peace, quiet and comfort of other persons or at a louder volume
than is necessary for convenient hearing of the individual carrying the
instrument, machine or device, or those individuals immediately adjacent
thereto and who are voluntary listeners thereto.
C. Loudspeakers or Amplifiers for
Advertising. The using, operating or
permitting to be played, used or operated of any radio receiving set, musical
instrument, phonograph, loudspeaker, sound amplifier or other machine or device
for the producing or reproducing of sound which is cast upon the public streets
for the purpose of commercial advertising or attracting the attention of the
public to any building or structure, except as provided in Sections 8.20.030
through 8.20.120.
D. Yelling, Shouting, etc.
1. Yelling, shouting, hooting, whistling or
singing on the public streets or public areas, or from private property in such
a manner as to be plainly audible at a distance of fifty (50) feet from the
public street, public area, or private property from which the noise emanates,
between the hours of eleven p.m. and seven a.m.
2.
Yelling, shouting, hooting, whistling or singing on the public streets or
public areas or from private property, between the hours of eleven p.m.
and seven a.m. or at any time or place so as to annoy or disturb the quiet,
comfort or repose of persons in any office or in any dwelling, hotel or other
type of residence or of any persons in the vicinity, after having been warned
to quiet or cease such noisemaking.
E. Animals or Birds. The keeping of any animal or bird which, by
causing frequent or long-continued noise, shall disturb the comfort or repose
of any persons in the vicinity.
F. Exhausts.
The discharge into the open air of the exhaust of any steam engine,
stationary internal combustion engine, motorboat or motor vehicle, except through
a muffler or other device which will effectively prevent loud or explosive
noises therefrom.
G. Motor Vehicles Out of
Repair or Improperly Loaded.
1. The use of any automobile, motorcycle
or vehicle so out of repair, so loaded or in such manner as to create loud and
unnecessary grating, grinding, rattling or other noise.
2.
The making of frequent, repetitive sounds from
engines or motor vehicles between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. so as to
annoy or disturb the quiet, comfort or repose of persons in any dwelling, hotel
or other type of residence or of any persons in the vicinity after having been
warned to quiet or cease such noise making.
H I. Loading or Unloading Operations; Opening of
Boxes.
1. The creation of a loud and excessive
noise in connection with loading or unloading any vehicle or the opening and
destruction of bales, boxes, crates and containers.
2. The loading or unloading of any vehicle
or the opening and destruction of bales, boxes, crates and containers on any
commercial property located within 100 yards of a residential structure between
the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m.
I. J.
Construction or Repairing of Buildings.
The erection (including excavation), demolition, alteration or repair of
any building other than between the hours of seven a.m. and six p.m. on
weekdays, except in case of urgent necessity in the interest of public health
and safety, and then only with a permit from the building inspector, which
permit may be granted for a period not to exceed three days or less while the
emergency continues and which permit may be renewed for periods of three days
or less wile the emergency continues. If
the building inspector should determine that the public health and safety will
not be impaired by the erection, excavation, demolition, alteration or repair
of any building within the hours of six p.m. and seven a.m., and if he shall
further determine that loss or inconvenience would result to any party in
interest, he may grant permission for such work to be done within the hours of
six p.m. and seven a.m., upon application being made at the time that the
permit for work is awarded or during the progress of the work.
J. K.
Schools, Courts, Churches or Hospitals.
The creation of any excessive noise on any street adjacent to any
school, institution of learning, church or court while the same are in use or
adjacent to any hospital which unreasonably interferes with the workings of
such institution or which disturbs or unduly annoys patients in the hospital,
provided that conspicuous signs are displayed in such streets indicating that
the same is a school, hospital or court street.
K. O.
Blowers. The operation of any
noise-creating blower or power fan or any internal combustion engine, the
operation of which causes noise due to the explosion of operating gases or
fluids between the hours of eleven 11:00 p.m. and seven 7:00 a.m., unless the noise from
such blower or fan is muffled, and such engine is equipped with a muffler
device sufficient to deaden such noise.
(Prior Code ' 102-1)
L. Trash Collection. The
collection of trash from commercial property, excluding an apartment complex,
located within 100 yards of a residential structure between 11:00 p.m. and 7:00
a.m.
2. That Section 8.20.130 be added as set
forth below:
8.20.130
Violation-Penalty.
Any violation of
this chapter shall be punishable as a municipal infraction. A fine of One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) may
be imposed for each violation of this chapter.
A fine of Two Hundred Fifty Dollars ($250.00) may be imposed for a
second violation of this chapter. A fine
of Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) may be imposed for a third or subsequent
violation of this chapter. Each day a
violation continues shall be deemed a separate municipal infraction.
AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED AND
ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SALISBURY, MARYLAND, that this Ordinance
shall take effect from and after the date of its final passage.
THIS ORDINANCE
was introduced and read at a meeting of the Council of the City of Salisbury
held on the ____ day of _______________, 2005, and having been published as
required by law, in the meantime, was finally passed by the Council on the
_____ day of _______________, 2005.
_________________________ _________________________
Brenda J. Colegrove, City Clerk Michael P. Dunn,
President of the Council of
the City of Salisbury
Approved by me, this ________
day of ______________, 2005.
__________________________
Barrie P. Tilghman,
Mayor of the City of Salisbury