(a) No person operating or occupying a motor vehicle on a street, highway, alley, parking lot, or driveway within the City shall operate or permit the operation of any sound amplification system from the vehicle in such manner or at a volume that will disturb the quiet, comfort, or repose of any other person and is plainly audible at a distance of fifty or more feet from the noise source. Such prohibition shall apply when the motor vehicle is stopped, standing, parked or moving on a street, highway, alley, parking lot, driveway, public property, or private property anywhere within the City, at any time.
(b) Subsection (a) hereof shall not apply to any of the following circumstances:
(1) The person and/or organization has received a valid permit to permission from the City, issued by the office of the Director of Public Service and Safety, on a form or in a manner designed by and for such purposes as the Director may approve;
(2) The sound amplification device is being operated in a motor vehicle to request medical or vehicular assistance or to warn others of hazardous road, vehicle operating, or traffic safety conditions;
(3) The sound amplification device is an anti-theft device being operated in a motor vehicle to deter theft or vandalism;
(4) The motor vehicle is an emergency vehicle or public safety vehicle and is being operated on an emergency run;
(5) The motor vehicle is owned and operated by the State of Ohio, a political subdivision of the State, or a public utility;
(6) The motor vehicle is participating in a parade and the sponsors have obtained the proper permit; and
(7) The sound amplification device is being operated as a requirement of federal or state law.
(c) “Sound amplification system” means any radio, tape player, compact disc player, receiving set, musical instrument, phonograph, “boom box”, sound amplifier, television, audio system, loud speaker or other electronic device used for amplification of the human voice or music.
(d) “Plainly audible” means any sound produced by a sound amplification system which can be clearly heard by a person with normal hearing ability 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.
(e) For purposes of this section, “motor vehicle” shall have the same meaning as “vehicle” (including bicycles) as set forth in Section 301.51.
(f) Whoever violates this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor. If an offender has been previously convicted of this section or persists in violation of this section after repeated warning, then the violation is a misdemeanor of the fourth degree.
(Ord. 34-99. Passed 10-4-99.)