City aims to muffle nighttime noise

Repeatedly blasting loud music, continuously revving your engine, or allowing your dog to bark excessively at night could land you a ticket if the City of Shelton passes a new noise ordinance.

The Shelton City Council discussed the proposed new ordinance Nov. 23 at a study session. Under the proposal, residents who receive complaints about loud noise between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. would be issued a warning, and if police have to return, a $1,000 fine.

The proposed ordinance aims to quiet down “loud music, house parties, those types of things,” said City Manager Jeff Niten said. “Someone working in their garage at 1:30 in the morning, which I have seen.”

The proposed ordinance is focused on residential areas and not commercial districts, where some businesses operate around the clock, Niten said.

The city current’s noise ordinances were adapted in 2006.

“We need to make sure it’s in compliance with the current state law, to address issues that we’ve encountered in the city regarding noise,” Niten said.

“These are complaint driven, these are not something where code officers are going to go looking for these types of things,” he said. “It’s intended as a tool for us to address these issues when we receive a complaint from a member of the public.”

The proposed law would also apply to the city, including the hours employees can use leaf blowers, Niten said.

“The central theme of all these efforts is to streamline and make things more simple, make things less wordy, less verbose, and to boil it down to what we’re actually trying to get at, so everyone can understand it was they read it,” he said.

The council will probably vote on the measure in late February or March, Niten wrote in an email to the Journal.

Shelton Police Chief Carole Beason said that with the current ordinance, officers will tell residents to turn down the volume, but after they leave, the noise resumes.

“The way it’s written now, we can’t really do a lot about it,” she said.

In the proposed ordinance, “one of the key words in there are ‘repetitious’ and ‘continuous,’ “ the chief said. “So this isn’t the person who starts their vehicle, they’re loud, and then they drive off. This is the time a neighbor has called into their neighbor and said, ‘Hey, you’re making a lot of noise, can you knock it off during these hours,’ and they’ve basically said, ‘No, we’re not going to do it.’ “

Beason added, “This doesn’t happen all that often. It just makes sense the right tool is in place in the event it does happen that we as a police department can do something to help people who can’t sleep, or have sleeping babies, or it’s just too loud, it’s disrupting their businesses.”

Council member Kathy McDowell said her neighbor each morning revs their car engine and then tears out in front of the Shelton Civic Center, “and I can hear it all the way up Alder Street.”

“I’m concerned about things like that,” she said,

Niten said the proposed ordinance does prohibit “the repetitive squeaking, screeching or other sounds from motor vehicle tires.”

Beason said many people call the city to first to complain of noise instead of talking to their neighbor. The neighbor might not know they are creating a noise nuisance, she said.

“Most people don’t want to get in a confrontation with someone else,” she said.

Council member Joe Schmit suggested that violators first receive a warning, and if the noise persists, a $125 fine instead of $1,000. But Beason said someone throwing a party might just to decide to pay such a small fine in order to keep the party going.

Council member James Boad said he likes the clarification in the proposed ordinance, and hopes the city can also add more jail space.