City of
City
Commission Agenda Item
SUMMARY
SHEET
CITY
COMMISSION MEETING OF:
AGENDA ITEM
DEPARTMENT:
Development
Services Department
COPIES TO:
Michael
Levinson, City Manager
Ellen Liston, Assistant City Manager
Erdal Donmez, Assistant City Manager
Arleen Weintraub, Director of Development Services
Susan Hess,
Director of Community Development
Roy Arigo, Chief of Police
Jeffrey Chudnow, Deputy Chief
Duncan Foster,
Deputy Chief
Peter M.J. Richardson, City Clerk
PREPARED
BY/DATE:
Kenneth R. Maroney, Chief Code Enforcement Officer
SUBJECT:
Noise
Ordinance
PRIOR
ACTION:
City
Commission approved first reading of Ordinance 2003-112 to repeal existing
Sections 11-9 and 11-10 of the Code of Ordinances of the City of
REQUESTED
ACTION:
To approve
Ordinance 2003-112 on second reading on December 2, 2003.
ATTACHMENTS
AVAILABLE ON DISK:
Ord.
2003-112
ATTACHMENTS
AVAILABLE ON HARD COPY:
NONE
CITY OF
CORAL SPRINGS
CITY
COMMISSION MEETING:
AGENDA
ITEM:
DESCRIPTION/BACKGROUND:
The City
Commission requested staff to amend the current noise ordinance regarding
nuisance characteristics and utility regulations pertaining to generation
equipment. Staff has reviewed the current noise ordinance identifying
inadequacies addressing noise issues such as generators. Staff has
obtained suggested amendments from Dr. Stanley Dunn, City’s noise consultant to
be incorporated in the proposed ordinance. Staff has also researched other
cities to identify appropriate language to include in the new ordinance.
Meetings were
held with the City Attorney’s Office, Police Department and Development
Services
Department’s
Code Enforcement Division regarding the creation of a new noise ordinance and
determining appropriate language and specific
times.
Enforcement of
the Ordinance would be the responsibility Coral Springs Police Department and
the Code Enforcement Division. Code Enforcement Officers will be trained to
operate hand held meters designed to measure levels of noise generated by a
specific source points. For violations, citations would be issued and violators
would be required to pay a fine.
At the present
time the Code Enforcement Division has two sound level meters and a calibration
kit.
Two code
enforcement officers have been trained on the sound level meters through a
course sponsored by
As requested
by the City Commission, the Ordinance was reviewed and determined to be
consistent with existing sections of the Code of Ordinances.
Intervening
Action: City
Commission held a public hearing on
ORDINANCE NO. 2003-112
AN
ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF
SPRINGS,
CODE OF
ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF CORAL SPRINGS IN THEIR
ENTIRETY
AND CREATING NEW SECTIONS IN CHAPTER 11 PERTAINING
TO NOISE
REGULATIONS; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY; PROVIDING
FOR
INCLUSION; PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE
WHEREAS, staff has recommended that a new noise ordinance be
created to better serve the residents of the City of
WHEREAS,
the City Commission of the City of Coral Springs, Florida finds and declares
that excessive sound constitutes a serious hazard to public health, welfare,
safety and quality of life within the City of Coral Springs; and
WHEREAS, the
residents of Coral Springs have a right to and should be insured of an
environment free from any excessive sound that may jeopardize their health,
welfare and safety and degrade their quality of life; and
WHEREAS, it is
the policy of the City of Coral Springs to prevent excessive sound that may
inversely impact the quality of life, jeopardize the health, safety and welfare
of its citizens and residents; and
WHEREAS, the
City Commission of the City of Coral Springs finds it to be in the best
interests of the citizens of this community to repeal existing Sections 11-9
and 11-10 of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Coral Springs in their
entirety and to create new Sections 11-9 through 11-16 pertaining to noise
regulations; now, therefore
BE IT ORDAINED
BY THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF
Section 1. The foregoing "WHEREAS" clauses are hereby
ratified and confirmed as being true and correct and are hereby made a specific
part of this Ordinance upon adoption hereof.
Section 2.
Existing
Sections 11-9 and 11-10 of the Code of Ordinances of the City of
Sec. 11-9. Intent.
It is the
intent and purpose of this chapter to regulate uses and activities in the City
of
Sec. 11-10. Definitions.
(a)
All
terminology used in this division, not specifically defined herein, shall be in
conformance with applicable publications of the American National Standards
Institute (ANSI) or its successors and/or assignee.
(b)
Definitions. The
following words and terms, when used in this section, shall have the following
meanings:
(1)
A-weighted
sound level means the
sound pressure level in decibels as measured on a sound level
meter
using the A-weighting network. The level so read is designated dBA.
(2)
Construction means any site preparation, assembly,
erection, substantial repair, alteration (or similar action) of structures,
utilities, public or private right-of-way or other property. Construction does
not include demolition.
(3)
Decibel
(dB) means a unit for
measuring the volume of sound; it is a logarithmic (dimensionless) unit of measure
used in describing the amplitude of sound. Decibel is denoted as dB.
(4)
dBA is the A-weighted unit of sound
pressure level.
(5)
Demolition means any dismantling, intentional
destruction or removal of structures, utilities, public or private right-of-way
surfaces, or similar property.
(6)
Emergency means any occurrence or circumstances
involving actual or imminent physical injury to persons or property, which
demands immediate action. It shall be the burden of the alleged violator to
prove the emergency.
(7)
Emergency
vehicle means a motor
vehicle used in response to a public emergency or to protect persons or
property from imminent danger.
(8)
Emergency
work means work
necessary to restore property to a safe condition following a public calamity,
work to restore public utilities, or work required to protect persons or
property from an imminent exposure to danger.
(9)
Equivalent means the level of a constant sound,
which in a given situation and time period, has the same sound energy as does a
time varying sound. The Leq is the level of the
time-averaged, means square, A-weighted sound pressure, the time interval over
which measurement is taken as being specified.
(10)
Impulsive
noise means a sound of
short duration, usually less than one second with an abrupt onset and rapid
decay. Examples of sources of impulsive noise, includes explosions and the
discharge of firearms.
(11)
Lmax
shall mean the maximum A-weighted sound level for a given event.
(12)
Legal
holidays recognized by
Presidents
Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving Day,
Day After Thanksgiving, and Christmas Day or any other legal recognized
holidays.
(13)
Maximum
sound level means the
greatest A-weighted sound level reading obtained when measuring a source of
sound during a designated time interval using the fast meter exponential
integration time.
Alternatively
the slow meter exponential integration time may be employed or the C-frequency
weighting may be employed.
(14)
MicroPascal means the international unit for pressure, analogous to pounds
per square inch in
English units;
1 microPascal is one-millionth of a Pascal; the
reference pressure used for airborne sound is 20
MicroPascals.
(15)
Motorized
equipment means any
self-propelled vehicle, such as, but not limited to, passenger cars, trucks,
truck trailers, semi-trailers, campers, motorcycles, mini-bikes, go-carts, dune
buggies altar-terrain vehicles or racing vehicles which are propelled by
mechanical power.
(16)
Motorboat means any vehicle which is primarily
operated on water or which does operate on water, such as boats, barges,
amphibious craft, or hover craft, and which is propelled by mechanical power.
(17)
Muffler means any apparatus consisting of
baffles, chambers, or acoustical absorbing material whose primary purpose is to
transmit liquids or gases while causing a reduction in sound emission at one
end.
(18)
Noise means any sound which is unwanted or
which causes or tends to cause an adverse psychological or physiological effect
on human beings.
(19)
Noise
disturbance is any
sound that (a) endangers the safety or health of any person, (b) disturbs a
reasonable person of normal sensitivities, or (c) endangers personal or real
property.
(20)
Octave band
sound level is the unweighted sound pressure level in the specified octave
band.
(21)
Person means any natural person, individual,
association, partnership, corporation, municipality, governmental agency,
business trust, estate, trust, two or more persons having a joint or common
interest or any other legal entity and includes any officer, employee,
department, agency or instrumentality of the United States, a state or any political
subdivision of a state or any other entity whatsoever or any combination of
such, jointly or severally.
(22)
Powered
model vehicles means
any powered vehicle, either airborne, waterborne or land borne, which are
designed not to carry persons or property, such as, but not limited to, model
airplanes, boats, cars, rockets, and which are being propelled by mechanical
means.
(23)
Private
right-of-way means any
street, avenue, boulevard, highway, sidewalk, bike path, or alley, or similar
place, which is not owned or controlled by a governmental entity.
(24)
Property
boundary means an
imaginary line exterior to any enclosed structure, at the ground surface, which
separates the real property owned by one person from that owned by another
person, and its vertical extension.
(25)
Public
right-of-way means any
street, avenue, boulevard, highway, alley, or public space, which is dedicated
to, owned or controlled by a public governmental entity.
(26)
Public
space means any real
property or structures thereon normally accessible to the public.
(27)
Real
property boundary is
the line, including its vertical extension that separates one (1) parcel of real
property from another.
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|
|
|
(28)
Receiving
land use means the
land, which is receiving the noise as designated by the City of
Springs Zoning
Map (and for recently incorporated areas, the effective zoning category).
(29)
Sound means an oscillation in pressure,
particle displacement, particle velocity or other physical parameter in a
medium with internal forces that cause compression and rarefaction of that
medium. The description of sound may include any characteristic of such sound,
including duration, intensity, and frequency.
(30)
Sound level means the reading in decibels of a
sound level meter constructed and operated in accordance with the latest
edition of American National Standard Institute specifications for the
measurement of noise and other sounds. The meter reading in decibels
corresponds to the total value of the sound pressure and is ten times the
logarithm to the base ten of the ratio of the A-weighted squared sound pressure
to the squared reference sound pressure of 20 micro-Pa, the squared sound
pressure being obtained with fast exponentially weighted time averaging.
Alternatively, slow exponentially weighted time averaging may be
specified. Also, the C-weighting may be specified.
(31)
Sound level
meter (SLM) is an instrument used to measure sound pressure levels
conforming to
Type 1 or Type
2 standards as specified in the American National Standards Institute
Publication S1.4-1971, or the latest version thereof
(32)
Sound
pressure level (SPL) means 10 times the logarithm to the
base 10 of the ratio of the time-mean-square pressure of a sound of the
reference pressure of 20 microPascals (in air) with
the units of decibels.
(33)
Use shall mean any activity, event,
operation, or facility, which creates noise.
(34)
Weekday is any day, Monday through Friday that
is not a legal holiday.
Sec. 11-11. Noise disturbances.
(a)
The following
acts which enumeration shall not be deemed to be exclusive,
are declared to be noise disturbances and shall constitute a violation of
this chapter. No sound level measurement is needed to prove the existence of
the following noise disturbances:
(1)
The sounding
of any horn or signaling device, except as a danger warning, for any
unnecessary or an excessive period of time or the unreasonable use of any horn
or signaling device, in such a manner as to cause a noise disturbance so as to
disturb the peace, health, quiet or comfort of the neighborhood or vicinity
thereof.
(2)
The operating
or permitting the use or operation of any radio receiving set, musical
instrument,
television,
stereo, car or truck stereo, drum, compact disc or tape player, exterior loudspeaker,
or other device for the production or reproduction of sound in a loud and
raucous manner so as to disturb the peace, quiet or comfort of the adjacent
neighborhood.
(3)
The using,
operating, or permitted to be used or operated, of any loud speaker or public
address system in such a manner so as to emit there from loud or raucous noises
so as to disturb the peace, health, quiet or comfort of the neighborhood or
vicinity thereof.
(4)
Yelling,
shouting, hooting, whistling, singing or creating similar noises on the public
streets, particularly between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. in such a
manner so as to cause a disturbance so as to disturb the peace, health, quiet
or comfort of the neighborhood or vicinity thereof.
(5)
The loading,
unloading, compacting, opening or otherwise handling boxes, crates, containers,
garbage cans, or otherwise similar objects in such a manner so as to cause a
disturbance so as to disturb the peace, health, quiet or comfort of the
neighborhood or vicinity thereof.
(6)
The operating
or causing to be operated any equipment used in construction activity, repair, alteration
or demolition work on buildings, structures, streets, alleys, or appurtenances
thereto with sound-control devices less effective than those provided on the
original equipment. It shall further be unlawful for any person to operate or
cause to be operated equipment for the uses aforementioned between the hours of
6:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. on weekdays and between 6:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m. on
weekends and legal holidays, unless for a public works transportation or
utilities projects approved by the City as set forth below.
Any person
desiring to engage in the use of equipment for the aforementioned purposes
beyond the hours of limitations, aforementioned, based upon cases of necessity
or in the interest of public health, safety and convenience, may apply to the
Police Department for a special permit allowing hours of operation other than
those specified above. Such permits, if granted, shall be limited to a period
of up to thirty (30) days-duration, but may be renewed for additional periods
of up to thirty (30) days if the emergency or need therefore continues. In the
issuance of such permits the City shall weigh all facts and circumstances and
shall determine whether the reasons given for the necessity are valid and
reasonable, whether the public health, safety and convenience will be protected
or better served by granting the permit requested, and whether the manner and
amount of loss or inconvenience to the person seeking the permit imposes a
significant hardship upon such person. An application fee of two hundred dollars ($200.00) must be paid at the time the
application is filed with the City.
(7)
The operation
between the hours of
9:00 a.m. on
weekends and legal holidays, of any pile driver, steam shovel, pneumatic
hammer, derrick, steam or
electric
hoist. The use of any other machinery, appliance, etc., the use of which
is attended by loud or raucous noise
so as
to disturb the peace, health, quiet or comfort of the neighborhood or vicinity
thereof.
(8)
Creating,
making, or maintaining any loud or raucous noise by the use of any drum,
cymbals,
loudspeaker, or other similar instruments in the City for the purpose of
attracting
attention to any performance, show, sale, or display of merchandise, or
place of business. This provision does not
apply
to approved public events.
(9)
Using, in
connection with an unauthorized vehicle, any bell or siren similar to that used
on
ambulances or vehicles of the police, fire departments, and other public
safety agencies.
(10)
Operating any
air-blow or vacuum cleaning equipment or similar devices in a commercially
zoned
district
for the cleaning of parking lots, walkways, driveways, or similar areas between
the hours of
a
reasonable person of ordinary sensibilities.
(11)
It shall be
unlawful for any public entertainment establishment or person associated with
or working for said establishment to operate, play or permit the operation or
playing of any radio, television, stereo, drum, musical instrument, sound
amplifier, or similar device between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. in
such a manner as to create noise across a real property boundary so as to
disturb the peace, health, and comfort of a reasonable person of ordinary sensibilities.
(12)
The operating or permitting the operation of powered model
vehicles between the hours of
(13)
The operating or causing the operation of any motorboat in any
lake, river, stream, or other waterway, in such a manner so as to disturb the
peace, health, and comfort of a reasonable person of ordinary sensibilities.
(14)
The creation or permitting of any loud or raucous noise so as to
disturb the peace, quiet or comfort of the adjacent neighborhood.
Sec.
11-12. Exemptions.
The following
noises shall be exempt from the restrictions set forth in the other sections of
this chapter:
(1)
Noises of authorized safety signals and warning devices.
(2)
The generation of sound for the purpose of alerting persons to the
existence of an emergency.
(3)
Noises
resulting from any authorized emergency vehicle.
(4)
Noises
resulting from emergency work, which is to be construed as work made necessary
to restore property to a safe condition following a public emergency, or work
required to protect persons or property from any imminent exposure to danger.
(5)
Noise from
landscape and yard equipment when operated between 7:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. on weekdays
and between 9:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. on weekends and legal holidays, provided
all motorized equipment are equipped with functioning mufflers or other
effective sound control devices similar to those provided on the original equipment.
(6)
Noises
associated with uses or activities whereby an administrative approval to
produce such noises contrary to the restrictions of this chapter has been
obtained from the City Commission.
(7)
Community events such as fairs, sporting events, school
activities, community festivals, etc. Such events or activities shall not start before
(8)
Noise
generated from municipally sponsored or approved celebrations or events shall
be exempt from the provisions of this section.
(9)
Noises
associated with the Police Department’s firearms facility.
(10)
Noises from
construction activity, tools or equipment used and operated on a construction
site between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. on weekdays and between 9:00
a.m. and 6:00 p.m. on weekends and legal holidays, provided that all tools or
motorized equipment used in such activity are equipped with all sound reducing features
and equipment originally part of the tool or equipment, or other effective
sound control devices similar to those provided or as effective as that installed
as original equipment.
Sec. 11-13.
Fans and air conditioners.
(1)
It shall be
unlawful to create any excessive loud noise, exceeding the sound level
limitations set forth in section 11-14, by the use or operation of any
noise-creating air conditioner, compressor unit, power fan or blower or the
electric motor or any engine used to drive such device, the operation of which
causes such excessive noise, unless such noise is muffled and deadened by
adequate noise suppression and muffling devices to eliminate annoyance and
disturbance to persons within the range of hearing. In addition, the City
Manager or designee shall require compliance with all reasonable sound
abatement measures and sound screening which may be necessary or desirable to
prevent such air conditioning equipment from creating excessive or unnecessary
noise.
(2)
Generators
installed in all residential districts shall be exempt from the sound rating
values set forth in section 11-14, Code of Ordinances when operated during power
outages; provided however, in no event shall the sound rating value of
emergency generators in any residential district exceed 72 dBA.
Generators in all residential districts may be operated for testing purposes 1
time for a period not to exceed 30 minutes in any 7-day period.
Testing of
generators in all residential districts is permitted between the hours of
Sec. 11-14.
Sound level
limitations by receiving land use designation.
It shall be
unlawful to operate, cause, suffer or allow, the operation of any source of
sound or to project a sound or noise across a real property boundary in such a
manner as to create an L50 A-weighted sound level which exceeds the limits set
forth for the receiving land use designation in Table 1 when measured at or
within the property line of the receiving land use designation.
Such a sound
source would constitute a noise disturbance. For the purposes of this
ordinance, the L50 shall be the sound, which exceeded for more than fifty (50)
percent of any measurement period which shall be not less than ten (10) minutes
when measured at or within the boundary of a property within the receiving land
use district and as a result of a source of sound being located on some other
property.
For the
purposes of this ordinance, the L50 may be established by recording the
instantaneous A-weighted sound level using the slow meter response at equal
intervals of ten (10) seconds. The resulting sound level sample that
exceeds half the samples will be taken as the L50. Equally, for the
purposes of this ordinance, unless otherwise established by measurements, if
the Leq is measured instead of the L50, the L50 shall
be taken to be 2 decibels less than the measured equivalent sound level of Leq.
(1)(a)
The maximum
exterior A-weighted sound level or Lmax measured
during a period of not less than ten minutes using the slow meter response
shall not exceed the L50 sound level limits specified in Table 1 by more than
5dBA.
(b)
Within a
multifamily dwelling, it shall be unlawful to create or permit any noise that exceeds
the L50 and/or Lmax sound level limits specified in
Table 1 and section (a) reduced by 10 dBA, as
measured in a neighbor’s dwelling unit.
(c)
In addition to
the limits of Table 1 and section (b), for any sound source which impacts residential,
public space, or institutional property, the maximum (Lmax)
allowable exterior sound level limits for the individual unweighted
octave bands measured using the slow meter response whose centers are sixty-three
(63), one hundred twenty-five (125), two hundred fifty (250) and five hundred
(500) Hertz shall not exceed sixty-five (65) dBA.
(2)
District boundaries. When a noise source can be identified and its noise measured in more
than one land use designation, the pressure level limits of the most
restrictive use district shall apply at that designation boundary.
Sec. 11-15.
Measurement of sound.
(a)
When
applicable, sound shall be measured with a sound level meter.
(b)
The sound
level shall be measured at a distance no closer to the point from which the sound
in question is emanating than the property line of the parcel or lot from which
the sound is emanating or through partitions common to two parties within a
building.
|
|
(c)
A measurement
period shall not be less than ten (10) minutes in duration.
(d)
The sound
being measured shall be representative of the sound which instigated the complaint.
(e)
A measurement
shall be recorded so as to secure and ensure an accurate representation of the
sound.
(f)
A measurement
should be taken at approximately five (5) feet above the ground or water
surface away from any obstruction or reflecting surface.
(g)
When
necessary, a microphone windscreen shall be required to avoid wind noise biasing of a measurement.
(h)
All manufacturer's directions on the operation of the sound
level meter shall be followed (e.g., proper microphone angle).
(i)
All sound
level meters used for measurement shall be in conformance with ANSI
section
1.4-1983, as amended.
(j)
All octave and
third octave band filter sets of the sound level meter shall be in conformance
with ANSI section 1.11-1976, as amended.
(k)
Calibration of
all instruments, components, and attachments shall conform to the ANSI standards,
as amended.
(l)
Instrumentation
for sound level measurements may be class 1 or class 2 (ANSI section
1.4-1971), as
amended.
(m)
Measurements
of sound shall be made by individuals trained in a noise measurement program
approved by the county or other training facility.
Sec. 11-16.
Enforcement.
(a)
Alleged noise
disturbance violations shall be investigated on a complaint basis and only when
the person or persons making the complaint contacts the Coral Springs Police
Department or Code Enforcement Division stating the details of the complaint.
(b)
The City may
prosecute noise disturbance violations by issuance of a City ordinance citation,
in which case, the penalty for a violation shall be as set out in City Code
Section 1-8.1.
(c)
Each
occurrence shall constitute a separate violation.
(d)
Any violation
of section 11-11 or 11-14 shall constitute a nuisance. The office of the
City Attorney
may bring suit on behalf of the City, or any affected citizen may bring suit in
his/her name against the person or persons causing or maintaining the nuisance,
or against the owner/agent of the building or property on which the nuisance
exists. Relief may be granted according to the terms and conditions of Chapter
60, Florida Statutes, as amended.
Section 3. Severability.
If any section,
sentence, clause, or phrase of this Ordinance is held to be invalid or
unconstitutional by any court of competent jurisdiction, then said holding
shall in no way affect the validity of the remaining portions of this Ordinance.
Section 4. Inclusion in Code.
It is the
intention of the City Commission of the City of Coral Springs, Florida, that
the provisions of this
Ordinance
shall become and be made a part of the City of Coral Springs Code of
Ordinances; and that the sections of this ordinance may be renumbered or relettered and the word "ordinance" may be
changed to "section," "article," or such other appropriate
word or phrase in order to accomplish such intentions.
Section 5. Effective Date.
This Ordinance
shall become effective upon adoption by the City Commission.