[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Township
of Easttown 11-21-2022 by Ord. No. 453-22.[1] Amendments noted where applicable.]
Easttown Township enacts this chapter under its general powers
affecting health, safety and community welfare. This purpose of this
chapter is to establish requirements to prevent and eliminate noise
which may affect the health, safety and welfare of its residents;
impair the constitutional rights of residents; or that may degrade
the quality of life of community members.
This chapter is not intended, and shall not be interpreted to
be, a regulation on the content of protected speech. This chapter
is intended to be content-neutral and regulates the time, place and
manner of protected speech according to constitutional law.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
Any motorized off-road recreational vehicle capable of cross-country
travel on land, snow, ice, marsh, swampland or other natural terrain,
including, but not limited to, go-carts and multitrack, multiwheel
or low-pressure tire vehicles or similar two-wheel, three-wheel, four-wheel
or belt-driven vehicles, or an amphibious machine. The definition
of ATV excludes golf carts, construction machines, utility vehicles
used for business operations, agriculture, yard work, landscaping,
snow removal or otherwise being used in the reasonable maintenance
of a person's private property, or motorized vehicles being used
for law enforcement, fire, emergency, military or other authorized
governmental purpose.
The operation of heavy construction equipment in construction
or demolition projects.
Any site preparation, assembly, erection, repair, alteration,
remodeling, or similar action, including demolition and removal of
buildings or structures.
Any land use bordering or abutting, whether divided by real
property boundary or by real property boundary and public street.
Any sound which is static, fluctuating or intermittent with
a recurrence greater than one time in any fifteen-second interval.
A unit of sound level which is a division of a logarithmic
scale used to express the ratio of the sound pressure of the source
or the pressure of an arbitrarily chosen reference pressure; the ratio
is expressed on the decibel scale by multiplying its "base 10 logarithm"
by 20.
Any dismantling, destruction, or removal of buildings, structures,
utilities or roadways.
Any occurrence or set of circumstances involving actual or
imminent physical trauma or property damage which demands immediate
action.
A vehicle as defined in 75 Pa. C.S.A. § 102.
Trucks with three or more axles and earthmoving grading equipment.
Sound of short duration with an abrupt onset and rapid decay
and an occurrence of not more than one time in any fifteen-second
interval. Examples of sources of impulsive sound include, but are
not limited to, explosions and the discharge of firearms.
The actual real use of land and buildings thereon situated
regardless of the zoning or other classification attributed to such
land and buildings.
New Year's Day, Martin Luther King Day, Presidents'
Day, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Fourth of July, Labor Day, Columbus
Day, Veterans' Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Any sound which annoys or disturbs humans or which causes
or tends to cause an adverse psychological or physiological effect
on humans.
Any sound that can be detected by a person using his or her
unaided hearing facilities. Words, phrases, or specific noise signatures
need not be discernible or identifiable to be plainly audible.
The real or imaginary line and its vertical extension which
separate real property owned or controlled by a person from contiguous
real property owned or controlled by another person. The use of property
line for purposes of this chapter refers to the relative or apparent
property delineated and survey-quality precision is not required,
intended or desired.
Any sound which can be distinctly heard as a single pitch
or set of single pitches. For the purposes of this chapter, a pure
tone shall exist if the 1/3 octave band sound pressure level in the
band with the tone exceeds the arithmetic average of the sound pressure
levels of the two contiguous 1/3 octave bands by five dB for center
frequencies of 500Hz and above, or by eight dB for center frequencies
between 160 Hz and 400 Hz and by 15 dB for center frequencies less
than or equal to 125Hz.
The land use which is a contiguous land use to the noise
source.
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.
The weighted sound pressure level obtained by the use of
a sound level meter and frequency weighting network, such as A, B,
or C as specified in American National Standards Institute specifications
for sound level meters. If the frequency weighting employed is not
indicated, the A-weighting shall apply.
An instrument which includes a microphone, amplifier, RMS
detector, integrator or time average, output meter and weighting networks
used to measure sound pressure levels. The sound level meter used
for testing purposes in accordance with this chapter shall meet the
current American National Standard Institute specifications.
The instantaneous difference between the actual pressure
and the average or barometric pressure at a given point in space,
as produced by sound energy.
Twenty times the logarithm to the base 10 of the ratio of
the RMS sound pressure to the reference pressure of 20 micropascals
[20 times (10 to the negative sixth power) times N over (m squared)].
The sound pressure level is denoted Lp or SPL and is expressed in
decibels.
A.
Plainly audible. No person shall make, continue, cause to be made,
or cause to continue any of the following:
(1)
No person shall operate or permit to operate the outdoor operation
of any tools, equipment or machinery used for commercial construction,
drilling or demolition, or in the sweeping of parking lots in such
a manner as to be plainly audible at a property line of the noise
source, except between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m., Monday
through Friday, and from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
It shall be unlawful to operate or permit the outdoor operation of
any tools, equipment or machinery used for commercial construction,
drilling or demolition, or in the sweeping of parking lots in such
a manner as to be plainly audible at a property line of the noise
source on legal holidays as defined by this chapter.
(2)
No person shall load or unload trucks or other motor vehicles or
open, close or otherwise handle boxes, crates, containers, building
materials, garbage cans or other objects in such a manner as to be
plainly audible at a property line of the noise source, except between
the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, and from
8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, except for municipal
waste haulers who may operate between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 7:00
p.m. every day of the week.
(3)
No person shall repair, rebuild, or test or otherwise work on any
motorcycle, motor vehicle, motorboat or aircraft outdoors in such
a manner as to be plainly audible at a property line of the noise
source, except between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m., Monday
through Friday, and from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
(4)
No person shall operate or permit the operation of any mechanically
powered saw, sander, drill, grinder, lawnmower, garden tool, leaf
blowers, or similar device used outdoors in residential areas in such
a manner as to be plainly audible at a property line of the noise
source except between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m., Monday
through Friday, and from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
(5)
No person shall operate go-carts, ATVs, snowmobiles, motorcycles
or motorbikes in such a manner as to be plainly audible at a property
line of the noise source except between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and
7:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, and 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Saturday
and Sunday. All ATVs and dirt bikes operating in the Township shall
be equipped with a muffler or other effective noise suppressing system
in working order and in constant operation. A muffler, noise-suppressing
system or exhaust system shall not be equipped with a cut out, bypass
or similar device.
(6)
No person shall play radios, musical instruments, sound amplifiers,
loudspeakers, public address system or device used in whole or in
part for the transmission of music or entertainment in such a manner
as to be plainly audible at a property line of the noise source, except
between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m., Monday through Friday,
and 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Saturday and Sunday.
B.
Decibel levels.
(1)
In those cases not specifically controlled by Subsection A above, no person shall operate or cause to be operated on private or public property any source of continuous sound in such a manner as to create a sound level which exceeds the limits set forth for the receiving land use category in the following table when measured at or within the property boundary of the receiving land use. All measurements shall be made with a sound level meter which is in conformance with the current American National Standard Institute specifications.
(2)
Continuous sound levels by receiving land use.
|
Receiving Land Use Category
|
Time
|
Sound Level Limit
(dBA)
|
|---|---|---|
|
Residential, public space, open space, institutional
|
7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Monday to Friday
|
55
|
|
8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Saturday and Sunday
|
55
| |
|
All other times and legal holidays
|
50
| |
|
Commercial, business
|
7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Monday to Friday
|
65
|
|
8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Saturday and Sunday
|
65
| |
|
All other time and legal holidays
|
60
| |
|
Industrial
|
At all times
|
70
|
(3)
Correction for character of sound. For any source of sound which
emits a pure tone, the maximum sound-level limits set forth in the
above table shall be reduced by 10 dBA. For any source of sound which
emits an impulsive sound, the excursions of sound pressure level shall
not exceed 10 dBA over the ambient sound level. Sound levels shall
be measured at the property line from which the sound emanates of
the receiving land use, by a sound level, which conforms to the specifications
published by the American National Standards Institute.
(4)
The maximum permissible sound level as listed in the previous figure
shall not apply to any of the following noise sources:
(a)
The emission of sound for the purpose of alerting persons to
the existence of an emergency or associated practice drills.
(b)
Emergency work to provide electricity, water or other public
utilities when public health or safety is involved.
(c)
Usual and customary agricultural activities.
(d)
Public celebrations, when specifically authorized by the Township.
(e)
School-sponsored events.
(f)
The operation of municipal or public works vehicles or equipment.
(g)
Motor vehicle operations shall not exceed the noise levels established
in Chapter 157 of Title 67 of the Pennsylvania Code of Regulations,
Subchapter B, Established Sound Levels.
(h)
Emergency generators during a power outage; and emergency generator
testing during the hours of 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Monday through
Friday, and 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, if the testing,
occurs more than once per week then the testing shall not exceed the
manufacturer's recommended testing schedule.
(i)
Surface carriers engaged in commerce by railroad.
(j)
Unamplified human voice.
Any law enforcement officer with jurisdiction shall have the
power to enforce and administer the terms of this chapter; investigate
complaints and prosecute violations of this chapter. When enforcing
the terms of this chapter, the Township may retain consultants and
engineers with experience in measuring sound levels with the use of
sound level meters.
A.
Any person who violates or permits the violation of any provision
of this chapter shall, upon conviction thereof in a summary proceeding
brought before a District Justice under the Pennsylvania Rules of
Criminal Procedure, be guilty of a summary offense, and shall be subject
to the payment of a fine as set forth in § 208-24B, plus
the costs of prosecution and reasonable attorney's fees. In default
of payment thereof, the defendant may be sentenced to imprisonment
in the county prison for a term of not more than 30 days. Each section
of this chapter violated shall constitute a separate offense, and
each day or portion thereof in which a violation of this chapter is
found to exist shall constitute a separate offense, each of which
violations shall be punishable by a separate fine imposed by the District
Justice.
B.
Fines.
(1)
First offense. A first offense by any person for violation of any
provision of this chapter shall be a summary offense and shall carry
a fine of $150.
(2)
Second offense. A second offense by any person for violation of any
provision of this chapter shall be a summary offense and carry a fine
of $300.
(3)
Third offense. A third offense by any person for violation of any
provision of this chapter shall be a summary offense and carry a fine
of $750.
(4)
Subsequent offenses. A subsequent offense after the third offense,
by any person for violation of any provision of this chapter shall
be a summary offense and shall carry a fine of $1,000.
C.
Continuing violations. Continuing violations of this chapter are a public nuisance. A person found to liable for more than three violations of this chapter within one year of the first offense shall be determined to be a public nuisance and shall be deemed a noise nuisance under Chapter 278. Where found to be a noise nuisance, the Township, in addition to, or in lieu of any other sanctions or remedy provided, may proceed under the terms of Chapter 278 and pursue all rights and remedies available thereunder.
D.
The Township may pursue any other enforcement rights or remedies
available at law or in equity.
