(a) Findings and purpose. It is hereby found and declared that:
(1) The making and creation of excessive, unnecessary or unusually loud noise within the village is a condition which has existed for some time, and the extent and volume of the noise is increasing.
(2) The making, creation or maintenance of the excessive, unnecessary, unnatural or unusually loud noise which is prolonged, unusual and unnatural in its time, place, use and effect is a detriment to the health, comfort, convenience, safety, welfare and prosperity of the residents of the village.
(3) The necessity, in the public interest, for the provisions and prohibitions hereinafter contained and enacted is declared as a matter of legislative determination and public policy, and it is further declared that the provisions and prohibitions are in pursuance of, and for the purpose of, securing and promoting the public health, comfort, convenience, safety, welfare and prosperity and the peace and quiet of the village for its inhabitants.
(b) Statement of violation. No person shall make or continue, or cause to be made or continued, any excessive, unnecessary or unusually loud noise, or any noise which either annoys, disturbs, injures or endangers the comfort, repose, health, peace or safety of others within the village.
(c) Prohibited noises. The following acts, among others, are hereby declared to be loud, disturbing and unnecessary noises in violation of this section, but the enumeration shall not be deemed to be exclusive:
(1) Horns, signaling devices, and the like. The sounding of any horn or signaling device on any automobile, motorcycle, streetcar or other vehicle on any street or means of any signaling device of any unreasonably loud or harsh sound; the sounding of any device for an unnecessary and unreasonable period of time; the use of any signaling device, except one operated by hand or electricity; the use of any horn, whistle or other device operated by engine exhaust; and the use of any signaling device when traffic is, for any reason, held up;
(2) Electronic devices and musical instruments. The use or operation, or permitting the playing, use or operation of, any radio receiving set, musical instrument, television, CD player, tape player, digital music player, stereo, speaker, MP3 player, or other machine or device for the producing or reproducing of sound in a manner as to disturb the peace, quiet and comfort of the neighborhood inhabitants, or at any time with a louder volume than is necessary for convenient hearing for the person who is in the room, vehicle or chamber in which the machine or device is operated and who is a voluntary listener thereto. The operation of any set, instrument, phonograph, machine, digital music player, stereo, speaker, MP3 player or device at any time in a manner so as to annoy or disturb the quiet, comfort or repose of persons in any office or in any dwelling, hotel or other type of residence, or of any person in the vicinity, is prohibited;
(3) Loudspeakers; amplifier for advertising. The use or operation, or permitting the playing, use or operation of, any radio receiving set, musical instrument, loudspeaker, sound amplifier, digital music player, stereo, speaker, MP3 player or other machine or device for the producing or reproducing of sound upon the public streets for the purpose of commercial advertising or attracting the attention of the public to any building or structure;
(4) Yelling, shouting, and the like. Yelling, shouting, hooting, whistling or singing on the public streets, particularly between the hours of 11:00 pm. and 7:00 a.m. of the following day, or at any time or place so as to annoy or disturb the quiet, comfort or repose of persons in any office or in any dwelling, hotel or other type of residence, or of any person in the vicinity;
(5) Animals, birds and the like. The keeping of any animal or bird which, by causing frequent or long continued noise, disturbs the comfort or repose of any person in the vicinity;
(6) Steam whistles. The blowing of any locomotive steam whistle or steam whistle attached to any stationary boiler, except to give notice of the time to begin or stop work, as a warning of fire or danger, or upon request of proper village authorities;
(7) Exhausts. The discharge into the open air of the exhaust of any steam engine, stationary internal combustion engine, motor boat or motor vehicle, except through a muffler or other device which effectively prevents loud or explosive noises therefrom;
(8) Defect in vehicle or load. The use of any automobile, motorcycle or vehicle so out of repair, so loaded or in a manner as to create loud and unnecessary grating, grinding, rattling or other noise;
(9) Loading; unloading; opening boxes. The creation of loud and excessive noise in connection with the loading and unloading of any vehicle or the opening and destruction of bales, boxes, crates and containers;
(10) Construction or repair of buildings. The erection (including excavation), demolition, alteration or repair of any building, other than between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. on week days, except in case of urgent necessity in the interest of the public health and safety, and then only with a permit from the Building Inspector, which permit may be granted only for a period not to exceed three days while the emergency continues and which permit may be renewed for periods of three days or less while the emergency continues. If the Building Inspector determines that the public health and safety will not be impaired by the erection, demolition, alteration or repair of any building or by the excavation of streets and highways between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. of the following day, and if he or she further determines that loss or inconvenience would result to any party in interest, he or she may grant permission for the work to be done between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. of the following day, upon application being made at the time the permit for the work is awarded or during the progress of the work;
(11) Schools, courts, churches, medical facilities and hospitals. The creation of any excessive noise on any street adjacent to any school, institution of learning, church or court while the same is in use, or adjacent to any medical facility or hospital, which noise unreasonably interferes with the workings of the institution, or which disturbs or unduly annoys patients in the medical facility or hospital, provided that conspicuous signs are displayed on the street indicating that the same is a school, medical facility, hospital or court street;
(12) Hawkers; peddlers. The shouting and crying of peddlers, hawkers and vendors which disturbs the peace and quiet of the neighborhood;
(13) Drums. The use of any drum or other instrument or device for the purpose of attracting attention, by creation of noise, to any performance, show or sale;
(14) Transportation of metal rails, pillars and columns. The transportation of rails, pillars or columns of iron, steel or other material over and along streets and other public places, upon carts, trays, cars or trucks, or in any other manner so loaded as to cause loud noises or so as to disturb the peace and quiet of the streets or other public places;
(15) Pile drivers, hammers. and the like. The operation, between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. of the following day, of any pile driver, steam shovel, pneumatic hammer, derrick, steam or electric hoist or other appliance, the use of which is attended by loud or unusual noise;
(16) Blowers. The operation of any noise-creating blower or power fan or any internal combustion engine, the operation of which causes noise due to the explosion of operating gases or fluids, unless the noise from the blower or fan is muffled and the engine is equipped with a muffler device sufficient to deaden the noise; and
(17) Vehicles. No person shall operate a vehicle at any time or under any condition of load, acceleration, or deceleration in such a manner as to create loud and unnecessary grating, grinding, rattling, squealing, or other noise.
(d) Prima-facie violations. Except as is specifically exempted above, it is prima-facie unlawful for a person to generate or permit to be generated sound by the above described devices or instruments in the following circumstances;
(1) On private property in a residentially zoned area, regardless of existing nonconforming use or variance, where the sound is audible more than 100 feet from the property line of the property on which the source of the sound is located; and
(2) On a street, highway, or in the public right-of-way where sound is audible 100 feet from the device generating the sound.
(e) Penalty. Whoever violates the provisions of this section shall be subject to the following penalty:
(1) The first time a person violates this section within a calendar year, the person is guilty of a minor misdemeanor.
(2) If, within the same calendar year of the first offense, the offender previously has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to one violation of this section, the offender is guilty of a misdemeanor of the fourth degree for the second offense occurring within the same calendar year.
(3) If, within the same calendar year of the first offense, the offender previously has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to at least two violations of this section, the offender is guilty of a misdemeanor of the third degree for the third or any subsequent offenses occurring within the same calendar year. Punishment shall be as provided in § 698.02.
(Ord. 83-25, passed 5-2-1983; Am. Ord. 94-28, passed 9-19-1994; Am. Ord. 2015-2, passed 1-20-2015)