(a) The City Council finds that excessive
is injurious to the public health, safety and welfare, interferes with the quiet enjoyment of life and property, and interferes with the tranquility and privacy of the home. Accordingly, the city has a compelling interest in imposing time, place and manner restrictions on such
on a content neutral basis and in a manner that does not unreasonably infringe on the rights of the city’s inhabitants and visitors to engage in free speech or the free exercise of religion.
(b) The following words and terms when used in this Article IV shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
A-WEIGHTED. A specific weighting of the
for the purpose of determining the human response to sound. The specific weighting characteristics and tolerances are those given in the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) S1.4-1983, section 5.1.
AMBIENT SOUND LEVEL. The
that exists at a point of measurement in the absence of the sound from the source of interest.
CITY OFFICIAL. Any duly authorized representative of the city as designated by the City Manager.
COMPRESSION ENGINE BRAKE. A braking system on an internal combustion engine powered vehicle that allows the driver to remove portions of the vehicle’s engine compression from service by exhausting compressed engine gasses from the cylinders before they have a chance to force the cylinder back down thus depriving the engine of power and slowing the vehicle, but also creating a loud roar or growling sound.
DAYTIME. Those hours from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.
dBA. A unit of
expressed in
(dB) and
.
DECIBEL. A unit of
, abbreviated as dB.
HIGHWAY. Any street, road or public way in the city.
IMPULSIVE NOISE. Either a single sound pressure peak (with either a rise time less than 200 milliseconds or total duration less than 200 milliseconds) or multiple sound pressure peaks (with either rise times less than 200 milliseconds or total duration less than 200 milliseconds) spaced at least by 200 millisecond pauses.
L10. The , expressed in
, which is exceeded 10% of the time for a one hour survey, as measured by test procedures per Minnesota Rules parts 7030.0060 and 7030.0070.
L50. The , expressed in
, which is exceeded 50% of the time for a one hour survey, as measured by test procedures per Minnesota Rules parts 7030.0060 and 7030.0070.
MOTOR VEHICLE. Any self-propelled vehicle not operated exclusively upon railroad tracks and any vehicle propelled or drawn by a self-propelled vehicle and including vehicles known as trackless trolleys which are propelled by electric power obtained from overhead catenary wires but not operated upon rails, except snowmobiles.
NIGHTTIME. Those hours from 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.
NOISE. Any erratic, intermittent and/or statistically random oscillations which result in disturbing, harmful or unwanted sound.
NOISE LEVEL. See SOUND LEVEL.
PERSON. Any human being, any governmental or political subdivision or other public department or agency, any public or private corporation, any partnership, firm, association, or other organization, any receiver, trustee, assignee, agency, legal entity, other than a court of law, or any legal representative of any of the foregoing, but does not include the city.
SLEEPING FACILITY. Any structure or property normally used on a regular basis for overnight lodging, including without limitation hotels, motels, boarding houses and campgrounds.
SOUND LEVEL. The
, expressed in , obtained by use of a
meter having characteristics as specified in the American National Standards Institutes (ANSI) Standard S1.4-1983.
SOUND PRESSURE LEVEL (SPL). Expressed in
(dB), is 20 times the logarithm to the base ten of the ratio of the observed sound pressure to a reference pressure of 20 micronewtons per square meter.
(1958 Code, § 166.01) (Ord. 168, passed 1-8-1952; Ord. 75-49, passed 9-22-1975; Ord. 2005-29, passed 7-18-2005; Ord. 2021-33, passed 10-11-2021)