If loud noise bothers you, you aren’t the only one; Vermont State Police have handled 261 noise complaints so far this year, Stowe police 50, and Morristown 76.
The two state troopers who patrol Waterbury haven’t received many noise complaints, said Trooper Rick Ostrout.
Just 19 of the 261 Vermont State Police noise issues came from the Middlesex barracks, which handles Waterbury calls on Sundays, when both resident troopers are off-duty.
How noisy is too noisy?
Morristown’s noise ordinance spells out what sounds can be considered “objectionable,” including amplifiers and loudspeakers, “loud and unnecessary” car or motorcycle noises, horns sounding for any reason other than danger, yelling, parties, construction sounds and barking dogs.
Sounds must be “plainly audible” to a naked ear to qualify as a possible noise disturbance, although the ordinance says “the enforcement officer need not determine the title of a song, specific words, or the artist performing the song. The detection of the rhythmic base component of the music is sufficient to constitute a plainly audible sound.”
Waterbury and Stowe have no municipal noise ordinances, and noise in those towns falls under the state noise statute.
That statute says it’s illegal to fire guns or blow horns between sunset and sunrise, or make other “unnecessary and offensive noise.”
Stowe Police Chief Don Hull says he could arrest a person under that statute, or maybe for disorderly conduct.
“A noise complaint is just the classification for the incident. It could range anything from a loud party to — I remember a little while ago there was someone complaining of a truck running overnight and it was too loud. It turned out to be a refrigerator truck that was running all night. It falls into numerous categories,” he said.
Most animal noises fall under the “animal problem” category, and barking dogs are regulated by Stowe’s animal ordinance.
“If the dog was barking, then we would go up there and talk to the owner and get it taken care of,” Hull said.
Stowe police have had to make repeat calls to dog owners in the past, and can issue tickets based on the state noise law, which says violators can be fined no more than $50.
The department can also issue citations based on the town animal ordinance, which has more teeth. First-time offenses can cost $100; doing the same thing less than six months later will cost $200; a third or subsequent offense within another six months is $300 every time, according to the town ordinance.
In 2013, Stowe talked about adopting a noise ordinance, said Charles Safford, town manager. That year, police had fielded 51 noise complaints by October, according to a memo Hull sent Safford.
Most came from people protesting loud parties or vehicles making loud noises at night, Hull wrote.
“When officers receive these complaints, they speak to the homeowner or the host, explain that they have received a complaint,” Hull wrote. “The officers ask for them to tone it down or stop.”
Construction firms making noise in the early morning or late at night are handled in a similar way, Hull wrote, and most of the time, they resume work at a more appropriate hour.
Hull told Safford in 2013 he didn’t think Stowe needed its own noise ordinance, and he still doesn’t.
“I don’t remember the last time we arrested or charged anybody for a noise complaint violation,” he said.
Ostrout said in Waterbury, the situation is much the same, although he’s been there for only about two months.
He said a few people have reported gunshots that turned out to be target practice, and he knows of one loud music complaint, but “very few” times has he been asked to handle noise issues.
Waterbury also has an animal control ordinance that addresses livestock noise; it bans “excessive noise” for longer than 30 minutes.
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