A. General. It shall be unlawful for any person to make, continue, or cause to be made or continued, any loud, unnecessary, or unusual noise, or any noise which annoys, disturbs, injures or endangers the comfort, repose, health, peace, or safety of others, within the limits of the town. The following acts, when prolonged, unusual, and unnatural in their time, place, and use, may be a detriment to the public health, comfort, convenience, safety, welfare, and prosperity: horns, radios, stereos, loudspeakers, yelling or shouting, exhausts, motor vehicles, ATVs, UTVs, motorcycles, drums, musical instruments, construction equipment, commercial vehicles, large diesel vehicles with refrigeration units, airplanes, or blasting.
B. Purpose. This chapter establishes minimum standards to:
1. Reduce the making and creation of excessive, unnecessary, or unusually loud noises within the limits of the Town;
2. Prevent excessive, unnecessary, or unusually loud noises which are prolonged, unusual, or unreasonable in their time, place, or use, and that affect and are a detriment to public health, comfort, convenience, safety, or welfare of the residents of the Town; and
3. Secure and promote the public health, comfort, convenience, safety, welfare and the peace and quiet of the residents of the Town.
C. Noise levels. The making and/or creating a noise disturbance within the Town as identified in Title 12. Definitions - Noise Disturbance or identified and measured in the manner prescribed in subsection (E) of this section.
D. Scale. A measurement of sixty-five (65) decibels shall be considered to be a noise disturbance within the Fairfield Town limits:
1. Measurement of Sound. Anything other than a residential zone will be measured at any property line of where the noise disturbance is coming from.
2. When a complaint is in a residential area, the noise disturbance shall be measured at the property line of the complainant and shall be measured with a sound level meter which meets ANSI specification S1.4-1974 for Type 1 or Type 2 equipment. The manufacturer's published indication of compliance with such specifications is prima facie evidence of compliance with this subsection.
E. Specific Noise Prohibitions. The following acts are unlawful:
1. Horns and Signaling Devices.The sounding of any horn or signaling device on any truck, automobile, motorcycle, emergency vehicle, or other motor vehicle within the Town, except as a danger warning signal as provided by the Vehicle Code of the State of Utah; and
2. Radios, Television Sets, Tape Players, Musical Instruments, and Similar Devices. Using, operating, or permitting the use or operation of any radio receiving set, musical instrument, television, phonograph, drum, or other device for the production or reproduction of sound:
a. In a way that is plainly audible beyond the property boundary of the source; and
b. On public property, public rights-of-way, or private property at any time so as to be plainly audible fifteen (15) feet from the device.
3. Public Loudspeakers. The use or operation of a loudspeaker or sound-amplifying equipment in a fixed or moveable position or mounted upon any sound vehicle in or upon any street, alley, sidewalk, park, place, public or private property for the purposes of commercial advertising, giving instructions, directions, talks, addresses, lectures, or transmission of music to any persons or assemblages of persons in violation of Fairfield Town Ordinances;
4. Hawkers and Peddlers. Selling any item or service by outcry, whether artificially amplified or not, within any area of the Town in such a manner as to violate Fairfield Town Ordinances;
5. Construction Work. It is unlawful for any person to perform or cause to be performed any construction work on any construction site under his control in such a manner as to violate Fairfield Town Ordinances. The Town Council may authorize extended hours for construction operations or procedures which, by their nature, require continuous operation, or modify or waive the hours of work for or on projects in generally isolated areas where the extended hours do not carry an impact upon adjoining property occupants;
6. Dynamic Braking Device. Operating any motor vehicle with a dynamic braking device engaged, except for the avoidance of imminent danger;
7. Defect in Vehicle. Operating or permitting the operation or use of any truck, automobile, motorcycle, or other motor vehicle that, because of disrepair or mode of operation, violates this ordinance;
8. Motor Vehicle Noise. Operating or causing to be operated any motor vehicle unless the exhaust system is free from defects that affect sound reduction; equipped with a muffler or other noise dissipative device; and not equipped with any cutout, bypass, or similar device; and
9. People Noises. Yelling, shouting, whistling, singing, or conducting unnecessarily loud or annoying Vocal utterances at any time or place, so as unreasonably to annoy or disturb the quiet, comfort, or repose of any person in any hospital, residential medical facility school, place of worship, place of business or dwelling, hotel, or other type of residence, or of any person in the vicinity.
F. Exemptions. The following uses and activities shall be exempt from noise level regulations:
1. Sound created by safety signals, warning devices, and emergency pressure relief valves;
2. Sound resulting from any authorized emergency vehicle when responding to are emergency call or in time of an emergency;
3. Sound resulting from emergency work;
4. Sound resulting from lawful fireworks and noise makers used for celebration of an official holiday;
5. Any sound resulting from activities of a temporary nature during periods permitted by law which has been approved by the Town;
6. The sound was made within the terms of temporary events such as a parade, fireworks, display, or other event for which a permit and exemption was issued by the Fairfield Town Council as being in the public interest, and the conditions of such permit were being complied with;
7. The sound was made by farm animals or by the normal day or night operation of farm equipment;
8. The sound was made under the auspices of a variance issued by Fairfield Town Council or its designee to grant noise ordinance variances and was made within the terms and conditions of such variance. To grant a variance, the Fairfield Town Council or the designee must find:
a. The facts of the specific variance will result in no undue harm or loss to other parties;
b. The best available sound control technologies have been employed and the sound still exceeds the standards stated above;
c. Noreasonable alternative exists for the person or entity producing the sound;
d. Conditions or mitigation measures are required as a part of the variance approval which are sufficient to protect the interests of the public; and
e. The discharging of firearms at a reasonable time and period.
9. Sound created by aircraft during approach to landing or during take-off to or from an FAA established runway or landing strip.