County looks into noise complaint

By PAMELA BRUST

PARKERSBURG - Wood County commissioners are looking into noise ordinances in other locales to see what, if anything, they might be able to do to address citizen complaints about noise in the unincorporated areas. "I've already talked with the sheriff and prosecutor about this. I've got a problem with these boom boxes. I think everyone does. They are very distracting; they are way too loud. When you pull up to a car and you have your window up and you can hear it so loud, or they go by your house and shake your windows , that's too loud," Donald E. Vaughn, a resident of Park Drive off Lake Washington Road, told the county officials last week.

Wood County does not have a noise ordinance. But Wood County Sheriff Ken Merritt said he would be in favor of such a move and his department would do its best to enforce such an ordinance, if the commissioners decide to impose one.

"They (the county commissioners) do have the authority to enact legislation to try and take care of the problem. It seems like it runs in spurts. We've had numerous complaints. Anyone who has a problem with their hearing, or inner ear problems, that kind of noise could be a real hazard, and could potentially cause an accident. I've actually seen the mirrors on my pickup truck move with loud noise. I know it's a problem," Merritt said.

Merritt noted, with limited staff and the number of cases they have, it could be difficult to enforce such a regulation, especially since it would probably require the officer actually having to hear the noise.

"There are times when you are in traffic and you hear it, but you can't initiate a chase for something like that, or they turn it down and you aren't sure where it was coming from originally. I think California has a code that if you are in your vehicle with your window up and can still hear it, they are in violation, that should be pretty easy to enforce," Merritt noted.

"It might be an issue of enforcement, but as long as I'm sheriff, my department would do everything possible to enforce such an ordinance if the commission passes it," Merritt said.

"I believe there are ordinances to this effect in other areas, but we have to make sure anything we do will be acceptable by the courts, you have to be able to show just cause. We've heard different descriptions on how it should be done, but when you send law enforcement officials out to enforce something, we have to make sure they have a tool to work with, and in turn satisfy the needs of the public," said Wood County Commission President Gary Deem.

Deem said he isn't aware of any other counties in the state that have a noise ordinance, but Wood County officials are checking.

"There are some ordinances relating to loudspeakers, this is a radio type of system, that boom, boom, boom noise, the big speakers in the vehicles," Deem noted.

Deem said there are regulations within the cities regarding disturbance of the peace, but the county currently does not have a noise ordinance in place.

Several cities have imposed noise ordinances to address everything from loud stereos, and construction noise to barking dogs and jet engines. Cities in Nebraska, Illinois, South Carolina, North Carolina, Florida, California, Ohio, Oklahoma, New Jersey, Louisiana, to name a few, have imposed such ordinances. Officials in Addison, Ill., stiffened their noise regulation to prohibit the sound of a stereo system, or muffler from being heard 75 feet away from the vehicle