SAFETY COMMITTEE OF COUNCIL

CITY HALL, 100 LOCKVILLE ROAD

MONDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2008

WORK SESSION

6:30 P.M.

OPEN DISCUSSION REGARDING PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO DISTURBING THE PEACE ORDINANCE

1. CALL TO ORDER: Mr. Smith opened the Safety Committee work session at 6:30 p.m. with the following members present: Mr. Sabatino, Mr. Smith, Mrs. Sanders. Others present were: Jennifer Readler, Mayor O'Brien, Tim Hansley, Stacey Bashore and others.

Mr. Smith stated the purpose of the work session was to go over the proposed changes to the Disturbing the Peace Ordinance. He stated we have received several complaints over the last few years regarding noise and there has been some confusion on how to enforce it. Ms Readler stated they reviewed the original disturbing the peace ordinance and it appeared to them that it was limited to the types of noises and it could lead a prosecutor to be confused as to what the offenses are. She further stated that they conducted a survey of other communities and it seemed that the best standard was a reasonableness standard with some kind of measurement for enforcing. Ms Readler stated there are some communities that have specific decibel measures that have to be measured with a decibel reader. She stated what they were recommending was whether the noise could be heard at the fifty feet mark and just because a noise is heard at that point doesn't mean a citation will be automatically written. Ms Readler stated there needs to be a reasonable measure of how much noise there is. She stated that the new ordinance is more extensive than the original because it talks about the different elements to disturbing the peace aside from sound. Ms Readler reviewed the exemptions of noise and the reasonable person's standards with the Committee. Mr. Smith asked if there was a barking dog in someone's back yard is it 50 feet from the barking dog and Ms Readler stated it would be. She further stated they are proposing fifty feet from the source of the noise because if you are on a 200 foot lot and you can hear it 50 feet from the dog you probably wouldn't hear it. Ms Readler stated there is still the reasonableness standard for people of normal sensitivity. Mr. Smith stated he was mostly concerned about those things that go across

someone's property line to disturb someone. Mrs. Sanders asked about normal sensitivity because people's tolerances are so different and Ms Readler stated it is dealt with in court cases a lot and you can't have someone who is hypersensitive and there are also reasonable standards that can be put into the proposed ordinances because it spells out the standards that would qualify for disturbing the peace. She stated there are five questions that the police officer could ask and then that would address the reasonable standards and then they could make sure that the fifty feet mark was violated as well. Mr. Smith stated he was not opposed to adding criteria as to what disturbing the peace was. Mr. Sabatino asked if all five criteria would have to be met and Ms Readler stated it would focus the inquiry for the police and the prosecutor. Mr. Sabatino stated he felt it set the basis for what should be considered objectionable, but he also thought that if someone has ten acres of ground they should be able to make noise on their own ground. Mr. Smith stated that if it can be heard on your own property line it would be fine, but it is when it goes across the property line that the City's interests come into play. Ms Readler stated there would need to be two different standards because there will be situations when there is a car driving by. Mr. Sabatino asked how a situation is dealt with of a dog that only barks when someone is going past the house and Ms Readler stated the reasonableness standard would come in because that is normal behavior for an animal. She further stated that if an owner leaves a dog in the back yard and it barks all day that is different. Mr. Smith asked that this be made into a draft ordinance before the next Council meeting. Mr. Hansley stated it was right where it should be and this is a good first step. Mayor O'Brien stated he would like some answers on the proposed ordinance because some of the restrictions have happened in Council chambers and we need to be prepared if it happens again. Mr. Smith stated that it is no different than the current ordinances. Mayor O'Brien asked why we would be exempted above the residents because the Violet Festival receives a lot of complaints. He stated that weather conditions play a big factor in how far noise travels. Mayor O'Brien asked if there was a representative from the police department helping in the development of this ordinance because he would like to see some kind of concurrence with the Police Department. Mr. Sabatino stated he agreed with running it by the Police Department and getting their remarks on it. Mr. Smith asked that the Mayor, Chief Taylor and our prosecutor be given a copy of the draft as well to get their input.

2. ADJOURNMENT There being nothing further, the Safety Committee Work Session ended at 6:57 p.m., October 6, 2008.

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:

Stacey L. Bashore, Deputy Municipal Clerk