http://www.herald-review.com/articles/2005/06/30/news/local_news/1008753.txt

Noise ordinance nets mixed results

By MIKE FRAZIER - H&R Staff Writer

DECATUR - Joe Green was pleased when the Decatur City Council approved a strict noise ordinance aimed at curbing loud music booming out of cars. But the rumbling sounds of stereos have since returned to his neighborhood near U.S. 51 and Mound Road.

"I'm telling you, they rattle our house with those cars," Green said. "We sit out on the front porch, and it just vibrates your whole body."

Since the council enacted the ordinance in September 2003, police have issued at least 256 tickets. Citations tend to spike during the summer months as windows go down. And the penalties are stiff.

Under the ordinance, drivers may not operate any kind of sound amplification system that can be heard 75 feet from the vehicle. If they do, the owner and operator each could be fined $250, or $500 if the owner and operator are the same person. The vehicle is confiscated until the fine is paid.

So how effective has the ordinance been? That seems to depend largely on whom you ask.

"Everybody feels like it's a good step," said Sue Neisslie, president of GM Square neighborhood group. "It's been a positive thing with all the neighborhood groups. We're all pleased with it."

Neighbors' complaints about noise pollution have started to rise with the summer months, and Neisslie has seen police patrolling the neighborhood.

"We're hoping to get more of a response with the bike patrol," Neisslie said. "They can sneak up on them and nail them quicker."

Some drivers think they need a trunk full of custom stereo equipment blaring to be in violation of the ordinance. Not so. Many factory speakers can be in violation of the ordinance, especially with windows down during the summer months, said Deputy Chief Todd Walker.

Enforcing the ordinance can affect the availability of officers. Police generally will spend at least a half hour issuing a citation, filling out paperwork and getting the vehicle towed. Fifty-four tickets were issued in the fiscal year that stretched from May 2003 to May 2004. But enforcement of the ordinance didn't start until late 2003, Walker said. And at least 166 tickets were written between May 2004 and May 2005. The department is not off to a slow start issuing citations in the new fiscal year, Walker said.

"Has it significantly decreased the problem?" Walker said. "That's debatable."

Sometimes police issue additional citations when they pull over a suspect for violating the noise ordinance. A 27-year-old Decatur man was stopped in May for allegedly violating the noise ordinance and additionally was cited for possession of cannabis. Police cited a 23-year-old Decatur man for illegal operation of a sound amplification system and also cited him for driving with a suspended license.

And a 26-year-old Decatur man was cited last month for violating the noise ordinance and attempting to flee police.

Police also have pulled over some drivers from out of the area. A 28-year-old woman from Georgia was cited in May for violating the noise ordinance. Neighbors say there's plenty of loud music still polluting the roadways.

"You can be out here anytime and hear cars going by that will rattle your windows," said Charles Nottingham, who lives on East Cantrell Street.

Nottingham said he's for the ordinance if it were vigorously enforced.

"It doesn't have any teeth at all," Nottingham said. "They go by with the 'boom boom' all day long," said Jim Patterson, who lives on Hickory Street. "You can't even open your windows because of it. It's totally disrespectful. People are old in this neighborhood, and they need rest. They don't need to hear all that thumping."

"What noise ordinance?" said Jan Hooten, who lives on North Country Club Road. Hooten said rumbling bass music from a quarter-mile away shakes the pictures on the walls of her home.

"I hear too-loud car stereos every day when driving around the city - north end, east side, west end - it doesn't matter," Hooten wrote. "The noise and profane lyrics penetrate my car windows, even when I roll them up."

City leaders say they intend to keep the ordinance in place.

"I think it would be a big mistake to repeal it," Mayor Paul Osborne said. "The council took a bold step, and apparently it's the right step."

Osborne considers curbing loud music to be a quality-of-life issue.

"You can't corral all of it," Osborne said. "But apparently it's made a dent in the problem. Overall, the comments that I have heard, particularly when it was first enacted, were, 'Thank you. I got my first good night of sleep in a long time.' "

But those cited for violating the city's noise ordinance have expressed irritation about the stiff fines. And the noise ordinance hasn't helped business for stereo dealers and installers.

"Business definitely went down," said Bob Stewart, manager of Audio Express Inc. on East Eldorado Street in Decatur. "It's still down. It's still not like it was (before the ordinance passed)."

Councilman Mike McElroy said he's in favor of the ordinance and has received no calls opposed to it or asking that it be reviewed.

"I don't like government getting into people's lives," McElroy said. "But I also believe when people are being held captive in their own homes, somebody needs to do something."

McElroy credited the police for enforcing the ordinance.

"It's not an easy thing to take on," McElroy said. "We gave them more work."

Osborne said, "We just need to stay on it and make sure it's enforced. The warning is still out there: You could suffer a very severe fine."

Macon County Board member Jerry Potts, D-Decatur, supports the ordinance. Potts said community members he has talked with "heartily endorse" it and have noticed a "marked improvement" in their neighborhoods.

Potts suggests communities in rural Macon County should take a look at Decatur's ordinance as a guide if they are having problems with noise pollution.

"It really is a respect thing," Potts said.

Community activist Keith Anderson said he proposed the ordinance to improve the community's safety, health and quality of life. Some drivers were playing their music so loud it would be difficult to hear the sirens of emergency vehicles, he said.

"I applaud the city government for taking a risk like that," Anderson said. "If they keep enforcing it, we'll have a rather peaceful summer."

Mike Frazier can be reached at mfrazier@;herald-review.com or 421-7985.