Columbia, MO

http://www.themaneater.com/article.php?id=23606

Amendment restricts noise

By Alex Lundy, 

Reporter.   Posted March

<http://www.themaneater.com/search.php?date=2006-03-07>  07, 2006.

Students who like to scream at their friends while walking home at night or have loud parties in areas heavily patrolled by law enforcement might need to turn down their partying because of a new city ordinance.

An amendment to the Columbia Noise Ordinance unanimously passed at the City

Council meeting on Monday.

According to the amendment, it is a violation of the noise ordinance if

someone is "shouting, singing, whistling or making other verbal utterance between 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. that is plainly audible at a distance of 50 feet from the building, structure or outdoor area in which the person is located."

The main difference in the ordinance is that the police are allowed to take action against anyone who is making loud noise regardless of whether there is a complaint from a nearby resident, City Manager Bill Watkins said.

"This makes it easier for police to handle noise problems," Watkins said.

"You don't need a neighbor to complain. There was a loophole before. People with stereos and radios having loud parties were covered (as long as a resident did not complain)."

The City Council found the amendment necessary because the noise ordinance had been hard to enforce, Watkins said. There had been no provision specifically for yelling or other "human noises."

"If you have to wait for a complaint to cite someone when you know a

violation is going on, you may not get one," Mayor Darwin Hindman said.

"This makes it more enforceable."

It is also possible that the amendment was influenced by the high

concentration of young college students in the city of Columbia, said Sixth

Ward Councilman Brian Ash, whose Ward includes the East Campus area.

First Ward Councilwoman Almeta Crayton specifically mentioned certain

neighborhoods often found in violation of the noise ordinance, such as East

Campus.

The new version of the ordinance is expected to impact East Campus

neighborhoods the most, Ash said. It will probably affect the campus

community more than other citizens of Columbia.

The amendment has been discussed for a while, Crayton said.

The Columbia Police Department and the city prosecutor requested the

ordinance amendment.

When asked why a citizen might be prosecuted if there was not a complaint against the volume of his or her utterances, Watkins said the city is presuming that if the noise is heard from 50 feet away, it is probably bothering someone.

Watkins said this type of ordinance probably is common in many other cities similar to Columbia.