Hanover noise ordinance faces overhaul
High school public-announcement systems. Barking dogs. Dirt bikes. Motorcycles.
Some or all of these have generated complaints from Hanover County residents about excessive noise.
As a result, the Board of Supervisors will have a public hearing next month on proposed changes to its noise ordinance.
Here's what's happening and why. What prompted the county to revisit its noise ordinance?
The Supreme Court of Virginia issued a decision this year that said the language in a Virginia Beach noise ordinance -- which prohibited unreasonably loud, disturbing and unnecessary noise -- was too vague. At that point, Hanover officials realized that the county's current noise ordinance includes similar language, County Attorney Sterling E. Rives III told the Board of Supervisors last week. And because it's vague, he said, much of the ordinance is unenforceable. How many complaints has the county received over the past year about noise?
Rives said barking dogs, followed by noisy motorcycles, dirt bikes and other ATVs, cause the most noise complaints.
Hanover Sheriff's Office Capt. Mike Trice said the county received more than 1,000 calls last year about excessive noises, ranging from loud garbage trucks and noisy arguments to teen parties and booming car stereos. What's new in the ordinance?
Here are some of the additions and changes to the current ordinance:
- Racetracks that require a conditional-use permit or special exemption are exempted from the ordinance. This is a new exemption. There are currently no racetracks within the county, but this would apply to any that come from now on.
- Violations of the noise ordinance would be classified as a Class 3 misdemeanor, which includes a fine of up to $500. Rives said the current ordinance does not provide a misdemeanor classification, only that penalties cannot exceed $1,000.
- All motor vehicles, including all-terrain vehicles, must meet the state's standards for mufflers and exhaust systems, whether they're used on private property or public roadways.
- Loudspeakers and other sound-producing devices that are installed or operated on the outside of a store, shop, business, warehouse or commercial building cannot be loud enough to be heard on a public sidewalk, road or street, or on residential property, unless the purpose is for announcing or paging someone; or alerting an individual to a ringing phone, smoke or fire; or announcing the beginning or ending of work or school.
- Animals cannot howl, bark, whine, meow, squawk or make other noises repeatedly or continuously for 15 minutes between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m., or 10 minutes between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m.; this applies to noise that can be heard across property lines, and through common walls that connect two residences.
"Barking dogs are the most frequent source of noise complaints," Rives told the board. He added that the Sheriff's Office will likely face challenges when trying to enforce the rules about noisy animals, but "we wrote it the best way we knew how."
- Yelling, singing, whistling and screaming would be prohibited between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m. if it's loud enough to be heard more than 100 feet away.
- Creating audible noise at a property line in residential areas for the purpose of construction or building maintenance, lawn care, leaf removal, gardening, landscaping and timbering activities would be prohibited between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m.
When and where is the public hearing?
The public hearing will be Nov. 10 at the 7 p.m. meeting of the Board of Supervisors at the county's administration building, 7515 County Complex Road.
The board could vote that night on the proposed changes or defer action until a later meeting.
Contact Holly Prestidge at (804) 649-6945 or
.
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Reader Reactions
I live near Hanover High on a farm with farm animals. The Board approved the school to be as loud as they want for as long as they want, and how is this far to me or my neighbors. Its not, but now if they change the noise ord. I will be one of the first people to be ticketed. This is due to all the noise comming from the school and my peacocks get very upset from this and hollar almost nonstop till what ever they are doing is over. I also have chickens and Roosters, they are noisey. We also have cows and when a cow calves sometimes they moo and also when we ween a calf they moo. This is part of farming and raising your own livestock for food. I am damned if I do and damned if I don’t. Where I live has grown up around me not me around them. If my peacocks can’t hollar or my cows moo then Hanover High should not use their PA or make any loud noises to bother me as well.
If you don’t like noise, move to the country. I hear there is still a bit of it left in Hanover…
If you live in suburbia, you simply should have to deal with some sort of noise. My husband works at night and sleeps in the daytime, why should those who sleep at night have any more rights in terms of a quiet sleep? They shouldn’t. My husbands deals with barking dogs and school buses with earplugs and sleeping pills. Sad, but has to be done.
Both models lie on the fringes of American ideologies and classifying a county noise ordinance as being some sort of overbearing authoritarian power-grab is just a tad melodramatic.
Seeing how the people I elect for Board of Supervisors (“BoS”) stay in power only my vote and the votes of other Hanovarians. I can vote them out and even encourage others to do so whenever I am dissatisfied with their decisions. My power of vote prevents the “creep” of authoritarianism from ruling my life as well as my voice at the meetings or through correspondence to the Board.
If the citizens of Hanover are so dissatisfied and against empowering police officials with the ability to ensure their peace and tranquility then all it takes is a stop by the ballot in the next elections to change that.
Plus, I sincerely doubt that a majority of people in Hanover enjoy being buzzed by a Harley with a modified muffler pushing 120 decibels (nearly as loud as a jet engine) in the wee hours of the morning or listening to the bass from a house party or Surround Sound Stereo System through the walls of their apartment at night. The Sheriff should have the tools he needs to effectively deal with these nuisances should it become necessary.
IN summary, this is not fascism or communism. This is local government tackling local issues; government at work. I have no fears of some slippery slope into an authoritarian regime in Hanover County, Virginia.
Fascism and Communism while different in method are very similar in that government rules supreme over everything. Most people are for peace and quiet but when you begin picking and choosing what,when,where and how you impose restrictions on people you are starting on a slippery slope that over time may well lead to further restrictions. Be very careful what you wish for, you just might get it.
How this ordinance supports a nanny state or is some endorsement for fascism/communism—which, by the way are not the same thing; not in the least—are things I fail to see. What I do not understand is Whether or not the BoS realize the potential problems inherent in the Yelling and screaming; Animal; and loudspeaker ordinances. Will neighborhood swim meets be fined for swim meets that go beyond the hours of 10pm for parents cheering on their children? Will private citizens be fined for owning bird boxes or feeders that attract birds/animals that"squawk” all hours of the day? Shall we tell our neighborhood pools to cut off their music because it can be heard from a sidewalk? Serious questions need to be answered before these rather unnecessary and potentially provocative measures are put into place.
I can appreciate the desire for peace and quiet and support the idea of the noise ordinance. I don’t agree with this attempt to explicate the law or its classification as a misdemeanor as, in my own personal experience, it only takes a polite phone call or a visit from the Sherrif for these noises to cease without the need for prosecution.
Good grief!! Hanover is going facist or is it communist? ehh it’s pretty much the same thing. I agree, the county shouldn’t be so worried about barking dogs or other noise which is just a fact of life. I see major troubles trying to enforce an ordinance like this. When the counties are starved for cash it’s amazing the kind of stuff they’ll come up with to keep on trying to squeeze blood from a turnip. Focus on real law and order problems instead of trying to micro-manage how people live!!
This is silly. Why is the court wasting it’s time with this?? A few people need to get a life or move back to the city where the Nanny State is alive and well.
How will this ordinance apply to rooster’s crowing? Will owners have to bring the rooster into the house? How about peacocks?
I can see an ordinance being enforceable in the city but it might be a tougher job to do out here in Hanover. The line just isn’t that clear.
If loud pipes really save lives, why aren’t the pipes pointed to the FRONT of the bike where the dangers are?
Besides, the bikes produce the most noise pulling away from a stop. That’s not the dangerous period; it’s when cruising down the road with mostly closed throttle.
I ride motorcycles myself and know that I could have a fire truck siren constantly going and someone would still pull out in front of me; it even happens to fire trucks.
I’m tired of inconsiderate motorcyclists outfitting their bikes with straight pipes and getting away with it. I am for aggressive noise enforcement.
Sounds like an intolerant few are turning to government to solve their petty perceived annoyance while the rest of us will have more of our liberties ripped away from us.
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