Klarinet Archive - Posting 000149.txt from 2004/09

From: ormondtoby@-----.net (Ormondtoby Montoya)
Subj: RE: [kl] Interesting conversation - giving lessons in residence
Date: Thu, 9 Sep 2004 00:54:25 -0400

Karl Krelove wrote:

> This is a hard one to react to for me.

I watched the city council in my town attempt to craft a noise
ordinance. They began by accumulating decibel measurements and then
choosing cut-off points for daytime, evening weekend, etc.

But when the full council listened to automobile traffic noise at 40 dBa
('white' noise) vs. 40 dBa 'percussions' from bartenders breaking beer
bottles in an otherwise quiet environment in a back alley vs. 'heavy
metal rock' music that was measured 40 dBa as it leaked outside from a
nightclub.... the council couldn't agree on whether 40 dBa was okay or
not.

So they took the next step(s) of trying to define limits based on the
zoning ordinances, such as 40 dBa is okay in a commercial zone, but not
in a residential zone..... unless it's coming from a church or school
which deserves to be exempt because it's for a good cause and we should
feel good about it....

Then during one meeting, a sound engineer demonstrated low frequencies
transmitted through the ground from speakers (rock bands, etc). Some
people felt on edge even though the meter gave low readings, while other
people (including myself) didn't. He further 'confused' the issue by
demonstrating a medium-pitched scraping sound at low dBa (from scraping
on a blackboard). Some people, including myself, climbed the walls
even though the meter's reading was below any 'reasonable' limit. Then
engineer demonstrated dBa vs. dBc, response time, time weighted
averages, and so forth.

The final result? We stayed with a noise ordinance that was drafted
many years ago and frequently doesn't satisfy anybody, but the city
council added a clause that says (paraphrased) "If it annoys someone,
and if a police officer agrees, then it's an illegal."

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