In addition to the general prohibitions set out above and the maximum permissible sound levels set out in Table 1, and unless otherwise exempted by this article or by resolution(s) of the city, the following specific acts and noises, or the causing or permitting thereof, are hereby prohibited and declared to be in violation of this article:
(1) Radios, television sets, musical instruments and similar devices: Operating, playing or permitting the operation or playing of any radio, television, phonograph, drum, musical instrument or similar device which produces or reproduces sound:
a. Between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. in such a manner as to create unnecessary noise across a residential real property line or through a floor, ceiling or wall separating apartment units, condominium units or other such residential units.
b. Between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. in such a manner as to create excessive and unnecessary noise in a noise-sensitive area.
(2) Loudspeakers: Using or operating for any purpose any loudspeaker, loudspeaker system or similar device in areas within or adjacent to residential, commercial or noise-sensitive areas, except for any noncommercial public speaking, public assembly or other activity for which a special permit has been issued by the NCO or the city.
(3) Street sales: Offering for sale, selling anything or advertising by shouting or outcry within any residential or commercial area or noise-sensitive zone of the city except by special permit issued by the NCO or the city.
(4) Animals: Owning, possessing or harboring any animal or bird which, frequently or for continued duration, howls, barks, meows, squawks or makes other sounds which creates excessive and unnecessary noise across a residential zoned or commercial zoned real property line or within a noise-sensitive zone. Notwithstanding the above-mentioned provision, the owning, possessing, or harboring of any barking dog, the sound from which creates excessive and unnecessary noise across any property line, is prohibited. For the purposes of this regulation, "barking dog" is defined as a dog that barks, bays, cries, howls, or makes any other noise continuously and/or incessantly for a period of ten (10) minutes or barks intermittently for one-half hour or more to the disturbance of any person at any time of day or night regardless of whether the dog is physically situated in or upon private property; however, a dog shall not be deemed a "barking dog" for the purposes of this regulation if, at the times the dog is barking or making any other noise, a person is trespassing or threatening to trespass upon private property in or upon which the dog is situated or for any other similar cause which teased or provoked the dog.
(5) Construction and demolition: Operating or causing the operation of any tools and equipment used in construction, drilling, repair, alteration, or demolition work between the hours of 7:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. on weekdays, or between 6:00 p.m. and 10:00 a.m. on weekends or holidays in or within fifty (50) yards of any residential area or noise-sensitive zone, except for emergency work by public service utilities or by special permit issued by the NCO or the city. This section shall not apply to the use of domestic power tools that are regulated in paragraph (9) below.
(6) Powered model vehicles or model airplanes: Operating or permitting the operation of powered model vehicles:
a. Between the hours of 7:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. on weekdays and 7:00 p.m. and 10:00 a.m. on weekends or holidays in or within one hundred (100) feet of any residential area or noise-sensitive zone; or
b. In such a manner as to exceed the levels set for public space land use, measured at any point on the public space or public right-of-way.
(7) Motorboats: Operating or permitting the operation of any motorboat or motor-powered device in any lake, river, stream, or other waterway in such a manner as to cause noise within a residential area or noise-sensitive zone, that exceeds eighty-five (85) db(A) when measured at least fifty (50) feet from the craft.
(8) Noise-sensitive zones:
a. Creating or causing any excessive and unnecessary noise within or adjacent to any noise-sensitive zone containing a hospital, nursing home, school, court or other designated area provided that conspicuous signs are displayed indicating the presence of the noise-sensitive zone. Noise-sensitive zones are those zones that are created from time to time by resolutions of the city commissioners upon a finding that the subject area contains a land use which is sensitive to or subject to adverse reactions from noise.
b. Creating or causing any sound within any noise-sensitive zone so as to exceed the decibel levels set forth for such zone when measured at a distance of at least twenty-five (25) feet from the sound source, provided that conspicuous signs are displayed indicating the presence of the noise-sensitive zone.
(9) Domestic power tools: Operating or permitting the operation of any mechanically powered saw, drill, grinder, lawn or garden tool, or similar tool between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. the following day on weekdays, or 10:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m. on weekends and holidays unless such equipment is operated inside a building or other structure so that the sound therefrom does not travel across any residential real property line or noise-sensitive zone and exceed the levels set forth in Table 1. All such equipment shall be properly muffled and maintained in working order so as not to create excessive and unnecessary noise.
(10) Multifamily dwellings: Operating or permitting the operation within a multifamily dwelling of any of the equipment described in subparagraph (9) above, in a manner as to exceed fifty-five (55) db(A) from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. when measured within an adjacent intrabuilding dwelling. The maximum permissible sound level when measured in an adjacent intrabuilding area between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. on weekdays and 10:00 p.m. and 10:00 a.m. on weekends and holidays shall be fifty (50) db(A).
(11) Recreational motorized vehicles operating on or off public rights-of-way: No person shall operate or cause to be operated any recreational motorized vehicle, motorcycle, "moped", dune buggy or any other type of motorized vehicle that exceeds the limits set forth in Table 1 on or off the public right-of-way in any residential or noise-sensitive zone. This section shall apply to all motorized vehicles noted above, whether or not duly licensed and registered.
(12) Whereas KRS 277.190 provides that:
"Every railroad company shall provide each locomotive engine running over any of its lines with a bell of ordinary size and a whistle. The bell shall be rung or the whistle sounded, outside of cities, at a distance of at least fifty (50) rods from the place where the track crosses upon the same level any highway or crossing at which a signboard is required to be maintained, and the bell shall be run or the whistle sounded continuously or alternately until the engine has reached the highway or crossing. In cities such signals shall be given as the legislative body of the city requires (786)",
The emission of audible warning signals of bells or whistles by railroad trains operating in the city exceeding Table 1 standards [is prohibited], except as may be preempted by federal law.
(13) Motor vehicles and motorcycles on public rights- of-way: No person shall operate or cause to be operated any vehicle or motorcycle in such manner as to produce an unreasonably loud, harsh or excessive noise, or to discharge into the open air the exhaust of any vehicle except through a muffler or other device which will effectively prevent any unreasonably loud, harsh or excessive noises therefrom.
(14) Adequate mufflers or sound disruption devices:
a. No person shall operate or cause to be operated any motor vehicle or motorcycle not equipped with a muffler or other sound-dissipative device in good working order and in constant operation.
b. No person shall remove or render inoperative, or caused to removed or rendered inoperative, other than for purposes of maintenance, repair or replacement, any muffler or sound-dissipative device on a motor vehicle or motorcycle.
(15) Refuse collection vehicles: No person or entity shall:
a. Operate or permit the operation of the compacting mechanism of any motor vehicle which compacts refuse, between the hours of 7:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. the following day in a residential area or noise-sensitive zone.
b. Collect refuse with a refuse collection vehicle between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. the following day in a residential area or noise-sensitive zone.
(16) Standing motor vehicles: No person or entity shall operate or permit the operation of any motor vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) in excess of ten thousand (10,000) pounds, or any auxiliary equipment attached to such a vehicle for a period of longer than five (5) minutes in any hour while the vehicle is stationary for reasons other than traffic congestion, on a public right-of-way or public space within one hundred fifty (150) feet (46 meters) of a residential area or designated noise-sensitive zone, between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. the following day.
(17) Explosives, firearms, and similar devices: The use or firing of explosives, firearms or similar devices which create impulse sound so as to cause a noise disturbance across a real property boundary or on a public space or right-of-way without first obtaining a permit from the NCO or the city. Such permit need not be obtained for licensed game-hunting activities on property where such activities are authorized.
(Ord. No. 1454, § 4, 2-11-91; Ord. No. 1778, § 2, 10-25-10)