Chambersburg, PA

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Article published Apr 24, 2006

Council considers noise ordinance

By VICKY TAYLOR

Staff writer

CHAMBERSBURG - When the booming of a car radio rattles the windows of nearby homes, it's time to do something about it, one Chambersburg resident said this week.

That is especially true if windows are being rattled by loud bass music from cars driving down the street in the middle of the night.

Donna Bender, who lives on a busy corner in southeast Chambersburg near the high school, calls the noise "that awful pounding, like the finale of fireworks on the Fourth of July."

It is just that kind of noise Chambersburg's borough council will address tonight when it considers adopting an addition to its noise ordinance.

The proposal would make it illegal to play music so loud that it can be felt by another person, or be heard 100 feet or more away.

It also addresses other noises that are often considered nuisances in residential areas, such as noisy mufflers, and sets a "quiet time" at night when the noise from banging trash cans, loud televisions and even raised voices that disturb neighbors will be illegal.

Borough planner Phil Wolgemuth and the municipality's planning and zoning commission spent months crafting the ordinance additions and in March council approved their work, leaving only the final touches, such as letting the public know in legal ads about the planned changes.

"(Council) wanted some sort of provision to cover music with heavy bass beats that can not only be heard, but felt," Wolgemuth said last month.

He said the commission grappled with the distance music could be heard. Members finally settled on the 100-feet requirement, then added a clause that would make it illegal for such music to be "felt" by others in thevicinity.

Several council members talked about music that resonated with such force that it seemed to vibrate right through the body. That type of noise usually comes from passing cars, they said, but sometimes from a neighborhood house, especially in the summer when windows are often left open.

Bender knows first hand what council is talking about, and says such music not only seems to vibrate right through her body, it actually rattles her windows.

"I have taken things such as collectible plates off my walls because I'm afraid they will someday be shaken off," she said.

Living on a busy corner, Bender said that over the years she has gotten used to neighborhood noise, even the roar of passing buses and dump trucks.

What she still has not gotten used to is the vibrating, pounding bass tones of car radios as they pull up at the stop sign on her corner.

Because she is close to the high school, the noise is worse in the mornings and afternoons before and after school. She said the problem does not stop there.

Cars with loud radios and sometimes even louder mufflers drive past her

house, stopping at the stop sign at all hours of the day and night.

Not only is it almost unbearable at times, she says, but when it happens at

night it is a constant irritant, not unlike a dripping faucet.

"You wonder when the next one is going to come by, knowing it will probably

be just about the time you drop off to sleep again," she said.

The ordinance additions will address nighttime noise in residential areas,

setting a "quiet time" from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. on weekdays, except for

Fridays.

The quiet period would begin at 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. On Sunday,

the quiet period would end at 8 a.m. instead of 6 a.m.

During the "quiet time" noise cannot be audible across property lines. That

includes noise from clanging trash cans, yelling, shouting, whistling,

singing, and loading and unloading vehicles if neighbors can hear that

activity.

Exceptions to the ordinance will be noises made by garbage trucks, snowplows and emergency vehicles as well as ringing bells and chimes.

Noise from athletic and recreational activities also will be exempt.

Council meets at 7 tonight on the second floor of Borough Hall above the police station at 100 S. Second St. The public is welcome and will have a chance to address the noise issue before council votes on the proposal.