[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village
of Spencerport 1-17-1984 by L.L. No. 1-1984 (Ch. 84 of the 1988
Code). Amendments noted where applicable.]
A.
The Village of Spencerport hereby intends to prohibit all excessive
noise from all sources in order to preserve, protect and promote the
public health, safety and welfare and the peace, quiet, comfort and
repose of the inhabitants of the Village and visitors thereto and
to human, plant and animal life and property and business, to foster
the convenience and comfort of its inhabitants and facilitate the
enjoyment of the natural attraction of the Village.
B.
This chapter shall be liberally construed to provide an effective
noise control program.
As used in this chapter, the following items shall have the
meanings indicated:
The measurement of sound approximating the auditory sensitivity
of the human ear as measured with a sound-level meter using the A-weighing
network. The unit of measurement is the dB(A).
Any or all activity, except tunneling, necessary or incidental
to the erection, demolition, assembling, altering, installing or equipment
of buildings, public or private highways, roads, premises, parks,
utility lines (including such lines in already constructed tunnels)
or other property, including land clearing, grading, excavating and
filling.
The unit of sound measurement, on a logarithmic scale, of
the ratio of the magnitude of a particular sound pressure to a standard
reference pressure which, for the purpose of this chapter, shall be
0.002 microbar.
A public calamity or an exposure of any person or property
to imminent danger.
Any gong, siren, whistle, air horn or similar device, the
use of which on emergency vehicles is permitted by Subdivision 26
of § 375 of the Vehicle and Traffic Law.
Any sound which endangers or injures the safety or health
of humans or animals or annoys or disturbs a reasonable person of
normal sensitivity or endangers or injures personal or real property.
Every device in, upon or by which any person or property
is or may be transported or drawn, which is propelled by any power
other than muscular power, except vehicles which run only upon rails
or tracks. This definition shall include but not be limited to trucks,
buses, automobiles, vans, motorcycles, motor-driven cycles, motor
scooters, dune buggies, snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles, go-carts,
minibikes, trail bikes and all other types of motorized recreational
vehicles.
Any erratic, intermittent, statistically random oscillation
or unwanted sound.
Any individual, partnership, company, corporation, association,
firm, organization, governmental agency, administration or department
or any other group of individuals or any officer or employee thereof.
A device intended primarily for the production or reproduction
of sound, including but not limited to any radio receiver, television
receiver, tape recorder, musical instrument, phonograph or sound-amplifying
system.
No person shall make, continue or cause, or permit to be made
or continued, any excessive noise.
No person shall operate or use, or cause to be operated or used,
any sound-reproduction device for commercial or business advertising
purposes; or for the purpose of attracting attention to any performance,
show or sale or display of merchandise in connection with any commercial
or business enterprise, including those engaged in the sale of radios,
television sets, phonographs, tape recorders, phonograph records or
tapes, in front or outside of any building, place or premises or in
or through any aperture of such building, place or premises abutting
on or adjacent to a public street, park or place; or in or upon any
vehicle operated, standing or being in or on any public street, park
or place where the sound therefrom may be heard upon any public street,
park or place; or from any stand, platform or other structure; or
from any airplane, or other device used for flying, flying over the
Village; or on a boat or on the waters within the jurisdiction of
the Village; or anywhere on the public streets, parks or places; provided,
however, that nothing in this section shall prohibit vehicles from
which ice cream products and similar products are sold from being
equipped with a bell, not exceeding three inches in diameter, or a
set of up to four such bells, nor prohibit the use thereof by the
driver of such vehicle, provided that no such bell or set of bells
shall be capable of being heard from a distance greater than 400 feet
and provided further that no such bells shall be used for any purpose
between the hours of 9:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m. or be used as an ordinary
warning signal at any time.
No person shall cause the sounding of any horn or signaling
device on any automobile, motorcycle, bicycle or other vehicle except
as a danger warning.
No person shall operate or use, or cause to be operated or used,
any emergency signal device except:
A.
No person shall operate, or cause to be operated, any motor vehicle
in such a manner that the sound level emitted therefrom exceeds 80
dB(A) either at a distance of 25 feet or more from the path of the
vehicle when operated on a public street or sidewalk or in a public
park or other public place or at or beyond the property line when
operated on private property. This subsection shall not apply to those
motor vehicles being operated upon a public street to which § 386
of the New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law applies.
B.
This section shall apply to all motor vehicles, whether or not duly
licensed or registered.
No person shall engage in or permit any person to be engaged
in construction activities which create excessive noise at the property
limits of the construction site, between the hours of 9:00 p.m. one
day and 7:00 a.m. of the following day, on any day of the week, except
in the case of an emergency, as defined herein, where construction
activities are directly connected to the abatement of such emergency.
A.
Except as provided by Subsection D of this section, no persons shall operate, or permit to be operated, an air-conditioning or air-handling device that exceeds the maximum sound level limitations provided in this section.
C.
In areas zoned for multiple dwellings or apartments, continuous sound
in the air shall not exceed 50 dB(A) outside any living area window
measured not more than three feet from the window opening.
D.
The provisions of this subsection shall not apply if the sound from
the air-conditioning or air-handling device produces an increase of
less than five dB(A) in the sound level that exists in the absence
of such a sound.
No person shall create, or permit to be created, any noise on
any street, sidewalk or public place, or on private property adjacent
to any school, institution of learning or church while the same is
in use, or adjacent to any nursing home or home for the aged, which
noise unreasonably interferes with the working of such school, institution
of learning or church or which disturbs or annoys patients in a nursing
home or home for the aged.
A.
No person shall use or operate, or permit to be used or operated,
any radio, television, phonograph, musical instrument or other machine
or device for the producing, reproducing or amplification of sound
with louder volume than is necessary for convenient hearing for the
person or persons who are voluntary listeners thereto. It shall be
prima facie evidence of a violation of this section if sound emanating
from such machine or device is:
(1)
Audible beyond the property line of the premises upon which it is
being used, between the hours of 9:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m.
(2)
Audible at a distance of 50 feet beyond the property line of the
premises upon which it is being used, between the hours of 8:00 a.m.
and 9:00 p.m.
(3)
Audible at a distance of 50 feet from such machine or device if operated
from within a motor vehicle on a public street.
(4)
Audible at a distance of 50 feet from such machine or device when
operated in a public park or other public place.
B.
The provisions of this section shall not apply to the following:
(1)
Funeral processions or use of such devices by a church.
(2)
The production of music in connection with any parade authorized
under any provision of law.
(3)
Any musical performance upon a public place where a permit has been
obtained from the Village for such purpose.
(4)
The use of amplifiers or other sound-producing activities, instruments
or equipment in connection with any religious or political activity,
any permitted athletic competition or recreational event held on athletic
fields, stadiums or public places in the Village or the activities
of local nonprofit organizations.
No person shall make, or permit to be made, excessive noise
in connection with loading or unloading of any vehicle or the opening,
unloading or destruction of bales, boxes, crates and containers.
No person shall keep or permit the keeping of any animal or
bird which makes excessive noise.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: A resolution adopted 5-31-1990 provided
that veterinary clinics shall be exempt from the provisions of this
section.
A.
Any person violating any of the provisions of this chapter shall
be deemed guilty of a violation and, upon conviction thereof, shall
be fined in an amount not exceeding $250 or be imprisoned for a period
not exceeding 15 days, or by both such fine and imprisonment. Each
day that such violation is committed or permitted to continue shall
constitute a separate offense and shall be punishable as such.
[Amended 2-2-1988 by L.L. No. 1-1988]
B.
Any person under the age of 16 years who shall violate any of the
provisions of this chapter shall be deemed to be a juvenile offender.
The operation of vehicles and equipment used by the Village
of Spencerport in the performance of official duties shall be exempt
from the requirements of this chapter until such time as vehicles
and equipment capable of compliance are available and acquisition
thereof is authorized by the Village Board.