(a) No person operating a motor vehicle on a street, highway, alley, parking lot or driveway shall operate or permit the operation of any sound amplification system from within the vehicle so that the sound is plainly audible at a distance of fifty or more feet from the vehicle. Such prohibition shall apply when the motor vehicle is stopped, standing or parked or when it is moving within the City.
(b) “Sound amplification system,” as used in this section, means any radio, tape player, compact disc player, loudspeaker or other electronic device used for the amplification of the human voice.
(c) “Plainly audible,” as used in this section, means any sound produced by a sound amplification system from within the vehicle, which clearly can be heard at a distance of fifty feet or more. Measurement standards shall be the auditory senses, based upon direct line of sight. Words or phrases need not be discernible and bass reverberations are included.
(d) It is an affirmative defense to a charge under this section that the operator was not otherwise prohibited by law from operating the sound amplification system and that any of the following applies:
(1) The system was being operated to request medical or vehicular assistance or to warn of a hazardous road condition.
(2) The vehicle was an emergency or public safety vehicle.
(3) The vehicle was owned and operated by the City or was a utility vehicle owned by a gas, electric, communications or refuse company.
(4) The vehicle was used in authorized public activities, such as parades, fireworks, sports events, musical productions and other activities which have the approval of the City department authorized to grant such approval.
(e) No person shall disturb the good order and quiet of the City by noises of intoxication, drunkenness, fighting, quarreling, wrangling, committing assault, assault and battery, using obscene or profane language in the streets and other public places, or from residences, to the annoyance of the citizens, or otherwise violate the public peace by indecent and disorderly conduct, or by lewd and lascivious behavior, or by threatening or inflicting violence or abuse to the person or property of others.
(f) No individual shall unreasonably make, continue or cause to be made or continued, or permit, any noise disturbance. For the purposes of this section, “noise disturbance” means any sound which endangers or injures the safety or health of humans or annoys or disturbs a reasonable person of normal sensitivities.
(g) Whoever violates division (a), (e) or (f) of this section is guilty of generating unreasonable noise, a minor misdemeanor. If the offender persists in generating or permitting to be generated unreasonable noise after reasonable warning or request to desist, generating unreasonable noise is a misdemeanor of the fourth degree. The penalty shall be as provided in Section 698.02.
(Ord. 94-21. Passed 4-14-94.)