The following words and phrases, when used in this chapter, shall have the following meanings:
"A" WEIGHTING: | The electronic filtering in sound level meters that models human hearing frequency sensitivity. |
AMBIENT SOUND LEVEL: | The total sound pressure level in the area of interest including the noise source of interest. |
BACKGROUND SOUND LEVEL: | The total sound pressure level in the area of interest excluding the noise source of interest. |
CLEARLY AUDIBLE: | Any sound that can be detected by a person using his or her unaided hearing faculties. As an example, if the sound source under investigation is a sound amplification device, the detection of the rhythmic bass component of the music is sufficient to verify clearly audible sound. |
COMMERCIAL AREA, COMMERCIAL ZONE: | Any area of the city with a zoning designation of Commercial (C), Commercial Recreation (C-R), Highway Commercial (C-H), Business Commerce (B-C), Professional Office (P-O) under title 10 of this code, and the abutting public streets and public premises. |
COMMERCIAL POWER EQUIPMENT: | Any equipment or device rated at more than five (5) horsepower and used for home or building repairs or grounds maintenance. |
COMMERCIAL PREMISES: | Any premises involving traffic in goods or furnishing of services for sale or profit, including, but not limited to: A. Banking and other financial institutions; B. Dining establishments; C. Establishments for providing retail services; D. Establishments for recreation and entertainment; E. Office buildings; F. Transportation; or G. Warehouses; and H. Any other premises allowed in a commercial zone other than a use categorized as a residential premises or industrial premises. |
CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITY: | Any site preparation, assembly, erection, repair, alteration, or similar action, including demolition of buildings or structures, which produces sound clearly audible at the property line of the premises from which the sound originates. |
CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT: | Any equipment or device, such as, but not limited to, pile drivers, power shovels, derricks, hoist tractors, loaders, rollers, concrete hauling motor vehicles, pavement breakers, bulldozers, crawler-tractors, rotary drills and augers, cranes, ditchers, trenchers, scrapers, wagons, pumps, compressors and pneumatic power equipment, or other mechanical apparatus operated by fuel or electric power in the construction, repair or demolition of any building, structure, land, street, alley, waterways or appurtenance thereto. |
dBA: | The A-weighted unit of sound pressure level. |
DECIBEL (dB): | The unit of measurement for sound pressure level at a specified location. The symbol is "dB". |
DEVICE: | Any equipment or mechanism which is intended to produce, or which actually produces sound when operated or handled. |
DOMESTIC POWER EQUIPMENT: | Any equipment or device rated at five (5) horsepower or less and used for home or building repairs or grounds maintenance, including, but not limited to, power saw, sander, vacuum, lawn mower, leaf blower, and garden equipment. "Domestic Power Equipment" does not include snow blowers or other snow removal equipment. |
EMERGENCY WORK: | Any work or action necessary to deliver essential services including, but not limited to, repairing water, gas, electric, telephone, sewer facilities, or public transportation facilities, removing fallen trees on public streets, or abating life-threatening conditions. |
ENFORCEMENT OFFICER: | A peace officer, or an officer or employee of the city authorized by administrative order of the mayor to enforce all or part of the provisions of this chapter. |
IMPULSIVE SOUND: | A sound having a duration of less than one second with an abrupt onset and rapid decay. |
INDUSTRIAL AREA: | Any manufacturing zone. |
INDUSTRIAL PREMISES: | Any premises where manufacturing, processing, fabrication, or production of goods or products takes place. |
INDUSTRIAL ZONE: | Any area of the city with a zoning designation of L-I, T-1, N-R under the zoning ordinances under title 10 of this code, and the abutting public streets and public premises. |
MOTOR VEHICLE: | Every vehicle which is self-propelled and every vehicle which is propelled by electric power obtained from overhead trolley wires, but not operated upon rails, except vehicles moved solely by human power and motorized wheelchairs. "Motor vehicle" shall not include power equipment, auxiliary equipment, and sound amplification devices on or within motor vehicles, that are not operated by or driven by the motor vehicle engine propelling system, or any "motor vehicle" operated on private property for recreational or amusement purposes. |
PREMISES: | Any building, structure, land, utility, or portion thereof, including all appurtenances, and shall include yards, lots, courts, inner yards, common areas and real properties without buildings or improvements, owned or controlled by a person. |
PROPERTY LINE: | The real or imaginary line and its vertical extension which separates one parcel of real property from another, or the vertical and horizontal boundaries of a dwelling unit that is one in a multiple dwelling unit. |
PUBLIC PARK: | All real property owned, operated, or maintained by either the city or other public governmental entity, and used as a park, playground, swimming pool, golf course, waterway, nature center, or other recreational facility. |
PUBLIC PREMISES: | Any premises, which is owned, leased, or controlled by any public governmental entity. |
PUBLIC STREET: | All real property and improvements thereon used or dedicated as a public right of way for vehicular or pedestrian traffic, including any highway, boulevard, parkway, avenue, street, road, sidewalk, park strip, or alley. |
PURE TONE: | Any sound that can be distinctly heard as a single pitch or set of single pitches. |
RESIDENTIAL AREA, RESIDENTIAL ZONE: | Any area of the city with a zoning designation of Agricultural (A), Residential Low Density (R-L), Residential Low-Moderate Density (R-LM), Residential Moderate Density (R-M), Residential Patio (R-P), Residential Multifamily Five (R-5) under title 10 of this code and the abutting public streets and public premises. |
RESIDENTIAL PREMISES: | Any premises located within a residential zone or commercial zone where single or multiple dwelling units exist, or where public parks, schools, churches, hospitals, nursing homes, homes for the aged, and similar institutional facilities are located. |
SOUND: | An oscillation in pressure, stress, particle displacement and particle velocity which induces auditory sensation. |
SOUND AMPLIFICATION DEVICE: | Any device for the amplification of the human voice, music, or any other sound, including, but not limited to, radios, televisions, phonographs, stereos, record players, cassette players, compact disc players, loudspeakers, or sound amplifiers. |
SOUND LEVEL: | The instantaneous sound pressure level measured in decibels with a sound level meter set for A-weighting on slow integration speed, unless otherwise noted. |
SOUND LEVEL METER (SLM): | An instrument for the measurement of sound pressure levels of a design and having the characteristics of a type 2 or better instrument as established by the American national standards institute (ANSI), publication S1.4-1983 entitled "Specification for Sound Level Meters", or the latest version thereof. |
SOUND PRESSURE LEVEL (SPL): | Twenty (20) multiplied by the logarithm, to the base 10, of the measured sound pressure divided by the sound pressure associated with the threshold of human hearing, in units of decibels. (Ord. 2022-09, 7-12-2022; amd. Ord. 2023-02, 3-14-2023) |