Loading...
(a) No person shall cause the evacuation of any public place, or otherwise cause serious public inconvenience or alarm, by doing any of the following:
(1) Initiating or circulating a report or warning of an alleged or impending fire, explosion, crime or other catastrophe, knowing that such report or warning is false;
(2) Threatening to commit any offense of violence;
(3) Committing any offense, with reckless disregard of the likelihood that its commission will cause serious public inconvenience or alarm.
(b) Division (a) hereof does not apply to any person conducting an authorized fire or emergency drill.
(c)
Whoever violates this section is guilty of inducing panic, a misdemeanor of the first degree. If inducing panic results in physical harm to any person, economic harm of one thousand dollars ($1,000) or more, if the public place involved in a violation of this section is a school or an institution of higher education, or if the violation pertains to a purported, threatened or actual use of a weapon of mass destruction, inducing panic is a felony and shall be prosecuted under appropriate State law.
(d) Any act that is a violation of this section and any other section of the Codified Ordinances may be prosecuted under this section, the other section, or both sections.
(e) As used in this section:
(1) “Biological agent” has the same meaning as in Ohio R.C. 2917.33.
(2) “Economic harm” means any of the following:
A. All direct, incidental, and consequential pecuniary harm suffered by a victim as a result of criminal conduct. “Economic harm” as described in this division includes, but is not limited to, all of the following:
1. All wages, salaries, or other compensation lost as a result of the criminal conduct;
2. The cost of all wages, salaries, or other compensation paid to employees for time those employees are prevented from working as a result of the criminal conduct;
3. The overhead costs incurred for the time that a business is shut down as a result of the criminal conduct;
4. The loss of value to tangible or intangible property that was damaged as a result of the criminal conduct.
B. All costs incurred by the Municipality as a result of, or in making any response to, the criminal conduct that constituted the violation of this section or Section 509.07, including, but not limited to, all costs so incurred by any law enforcement officers, firefighters, rescue personnel, or emergency medical services personnel of the state or the political subdivision.
(3) “Emergency medical services personnel” has the same meaning as in Ohio R.C. 2133.21.
(4) “Institution of higher education” means any of the following:
A. A state university or college as defined in Ohio R.C. 3345.12(A)(1), community college, state community college, university branch, or technical college;
B. A private, nonprofit college, university or other post-secondary institution located in this State that possesses a certificate of authorization issued by the Chancellor of Higher Education pursuant to Ohio R.C. Chapter 1713.
C. A post-secondary institution with a certificate of registration issued by the State Board of Career Colleges and Schools under Ohio R.C. Chapter 3332. (ORC 2917.31)
(5) “School” means any school operated by a board of education or any school for which the Director of Education and Workforce prescribes minimum standards under Ohio R.C. 3301.07, whether or not any instruction, extracurricular activities, or training provided by the school is being conducted at the time a violation of this section is committed.
(6) “Weapon of mass destruction” means any of the following:
A. Any weapon that is designed or intended to cause death or serious physical harm through the release, dissemination, or impact of toxic or poisonous chemicals, or their precursors;
B. Any weapon involving a disease organism or biological agent;
C. Any weapon that is designed to release radiation or radioactivity at a level dangerous to human life;
D. Any of the following, except to the extent that the item or device in question is expressly excepted from the definition of “destructive device” pursuant to 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(4) and regulations issued under that section:
1. Any explosive, incendiary, or poison gas bomb, grenade, rocket having a propellant charge of more than four ounces, missile having an explosive or incendiary charge of more than one-quarter ounce, mine, or similar device;
2. Any combination of parts either designed or intended for use in converting any item or device into any item or device described in division (e)(3)D.1. of this section and from which an item or device described in that division may be readily assembled.
(a) No person shall do any of the following:
(1) Initiate or circulate a report or warning of an alleged or impending fire, explosion, crime or other catastrophe, knowing that the report or warning is false and likely to cause public inconvenience or alarm;
(2) Knowingly cause a false alarm of fire or other emergency to be transmitted to or within any organization, public or private, for dealing with emergencies involving a risk of physical harm to persons or property;
(3) Report to any law enforcement agency an alleged offense or other incident within its concern, knowing that such offense did not occur.
(4) Initiate or circulate a report or warning of an alleged or impending fire, explosion, crime, or other catastrophe, knowing that the report or warning is false and likely to impede the operation of a critical infrastructure facility.
(b) This section does not apply to any person conducting an authorized fire or emergency drill.
(c) Whoever violates this section is guilty of making false alarms, a misdemeanor of the first degree. If a violation of this section results in economic harm of one thousand dollars ($1,000) or more, or if a violation of this section pertains to a purported, threatened, or actual use of a weapon of mass destruction, making false alarms is a felony and shall be prosecuted under appropriate State law.
(d) Any act that is a violation of this section and any other section of the Codified Ordinances may be prosecuted under this section, the other section, or both sections.
(e) As used in this section:
(1) “Critical infrastructure facility” has the same meaning as in Ohio R.C. 2911.21.
(2) “Economic harm”and “weapon of mass destruction” have the same meaning as in Section 509.06. (ORC 2917.32)
The operational performance standards established by this chapter shall be subject to exception upon application to the Director of Public Service and Safety and a showing of undue hardship.
Definition, test procedures and equipment to determine whether maximum noise levels of this chapter have been exceeded shall be found in “Handbook of Noise Measurement” by A.P.G. Peterson and E.E. Gross, Jr., General Radio Company.
Any emission of noise from any source in excess of the limitations established in this chapter shall be deemed and is hereby declared to be a public nuisance, and may be subject to abatement procedures. Such abatement may be an addition to the fines and penalties herein provided.
The provisions herein shall not apply to policemen and firemen while in the discharge of their duty, nor to ambulances making emergency runs.
(Ord. 8176-75. Passed 2-24-75.)
(a) As used in this section:
(1) “Ambient noise level” means the sound pressure level of the all encompassing noise associated with a given environment, being a composite of many sounds. Specifically, it is the sound pressure level exceeding ninety percent (90%) of the time, based upon a measurement period of not less than sixty continuous seconds and excluding the alleged offensive noise.
(2) “Decibel” means a unit for measuring the intensity of sound, used with a sound level meter. “Decibel” is also known as “dBA” relating to sound perceptible to the human ear when using an A weighting measure (experts agree that 85 dBA will harm human hearing over time).
(3) “Noise nuisance” means a sound or noise which does any of the following: disturbs the peace, quiet or good order of a neighborhood or the City; constitutes a nuisance or a menace to the health, comfort or safety of the public; interferes with one’s right of privacy, the ambient noise level within one’s residence or the use of one’s residential property; annoys, disturbs, offends, injures or endangers the repose, health, safety, peace, quiet or comfort of any reasonable person of normal sensitivity; or endangers or injures personal or real property or obstructs the use of personal or real property.
(4) “Sound level meter” means an instrument used for the measurement of sound and noise levels in a specified manner or conforming to the American National Standards Institute’s Specifications for Sound Level Meters.
(5) “Sound pressure level” means the physical intensity of sound or acoustic power that is measured by a sound level meter. Sound pressure level is influenced by numerous noise descriptors. Some of those descriptors utilized by a sound level meter are: frequency range, pitch, flat or un- weighted measures, A-weighting measures, C-weighting filters, etc. A- weighting measures emphasize the middle frequency components similar to the response of the human ear.
(b) No person shall make, produce, create, cause, continue or permit a noise nuisance.
(c) Factors to be considered in determining whether a violation of this section has occurred include, but shall not be limited to, the following:
(1) The volume of the sound or noise;
(2) The intensity of the sound or noise;
(3) Whether the nature of the sound or noise is usual or unusual;
(4) Whether the origin of the sound or noise is natural or unnatural;
(5) The volume and intensity of the background noise, if any;
(6) The proximity of the sound or noise to residential sleeping quarters;
(7) The proximity of the sound or noise to residential living quarters;
(8) The nature and zoning of the area within which the sound or noise emanates;
(9) The density of the inhabitation of the area within which the sound or noise emanates;
(10) The time of day or night the sound or noise occurs;
(11) The duration of the sound or noise;
(12) Whether the sound or noise is recurrent, intermittent or constant; and
(13) Whether the sound or noise is produced by a commercial or noncommercial activity.
(d) For purposes of this section, it shall be prima facie unlawful for a person to make, produce, create, cause, continue or permit a sound or noise where or when the sound or noise is audible more than fifty feet from a property line of the property upon which the source of the sound or noise is located or where or when the sound or noise is 15 dBA above the ambient on the receiving property.
(e) A sound level meter may be used to determine whether a violation of this section has occurred.
(f) The provisions of this section shall not apply to: school-related activities or events; parades authorized by the City; concerts or like events in public parks or other public places which are authorized by the City; any event which has received a valid permit from the City as set forth in Section 311.02 or like ordinance; emergency vehicles when responding to an emergency call or acting in time of emergency; lawfully scheduled sporting events, parades, fireworks, festivals and concerts; construction activities occurring between 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m.; refuse collection; and an entity subject to Section 509.11 if, at the time of violation of this section, that entity was not in violation of Section 509.11.
(g) Whoever violates this section shall be subject to the following penalty:
First Offense | A fine of one hundred dollars ($100.00). |
Second Offense | A fine of two hundred fifty dollars ($250.00). |
Third Offense and Thereafter | A fine of five hundred dollars ($500.00) and a minimum of three days in jail, up to a maximum of thirty days in jail. |
If the violation occurred between the hours of 9:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m., however, the aforedescribed monetary fines in this subsection (g) shall be doubled.
A separate offense shall be deemed committed each day during or on which a violation occurs or continues.
(Ord. 11983/06. Passed 9-13-06.)
(Ord. 11983/06. Passed 9-13-06.)
(a) No person owning, or in possession or control of any building or premises, shall use the same, permit the use of the same, or rent the same to be used for any business or employment or residential use, or for any purpose of pleasure or recreation, if such use shall by its boisterous nature, disturb or destroy the peace of the neighborhood in which such building or premise is situated, or be dangerous or detrimental to health.
(Ord. 8176-75. Passed 2-24-75.)
(b) Whoever violates this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor.
Loading...