(A) General prohibition. It is unlawful for any person to make, continue or cause to be made or continued any loud, unnecessary or unusual noise or any noise which either annoys, disturbs, injures or endangers the comfort, repose, health, peace of safety of others.
(B) Police Department action. Officers of the Police Department shall issue citations for the following violations of this section of the Noise Ordinance without use of a sound level meter.
(C) Enumeration of prohibited acts. Each of the following acts, among others, is declared unlawful and is prohibited; but this enumeration shall not be deemed to be exclusive:
(1) Blowing horns, etc. The sounding of any horn or signal device on any automobile, motorcycle, bus, streetcar or other vehicle while not in motion, except as a danger signal if another vehicle is approaching apparently out of control, or if in motion only as a danger signal after or as brakes are being applied and deceleration of the vehicle is intended; the creation by means of any such signal device or any unreasonably loud or harsh sound; and the sounding of such device for an unnecessary and unreasonable period of time.
(2) Radios, phonographs, etc.
(a) The playing of any radio, phonograph, musical instrument, tape recorder, cassette player, compact disk player, device for receiving broadcast sound or reproducing recorded sound, or any other sound amplification system or similar device in such a manner or with such volume 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.
(b) The playing of any radio, tape recorder, cassette player, compact disk player, device for receiving broadcast sound or reproducing recorded sound, or any other sound amplification system or similar device which produces sound in a motor vehicle in such a manner or with such volume 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.
(3) Shouting, singing, etc. Yelling, shouting, hooting, whistling or singing on the public street at any time or place so as to annoy or disturb the quiet, comfort or repose of persons in any dwelling, hotel or other type of residence, or of any person in the vicinity.
(4) Animals. The keeping of any animal or bird which by causing frequent or long-continued noise shall disturb the comfort or repose of any person in the vicinity.
(5) Steam whistles. The blowing of any steam whistle attached to any stationary boiler except to give notice of the time to begin or stop work or as a warning of fire or danger, or upon request of proper city authorities.
(6) Exhaust discharge. The discharge into the open air of the exhaust of any steam engine, stationary internal combustion engine, motor vehicle engine, motorcycle engine, motorboat engine or any other vehicle engine except through a muffler or other device which will effectively prevent loud or explosive noises therefrom.
(7) Building operations. The erection (including excavation), demolition, alteration or repair of any building or the excavation of streets and highways, between the evening hours of 6:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. Monday through Friday and the evening hours of 6:00 pm. to 9:00 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday and legal holiday weekdays, except in case of urgent necessity in the interest of public safety, and then only with a permit from the Building Inspector or Traffic Engineer, which permit may be granted for a period not to exceed three days while the emergency continues.
(8) Loading and unloading operations. The creation of a loud and excessive noise in connection with loading or unloading any vehicle or the opening and destruction of bales, boxes, crates and containers.
(9) Truck idling. No person shall operate an engine or any standing motor vehicle with a weight in excess of 10,000 pounds manufacturer's gross vehicle weight (GVW) for a period in excess of ten minutes when such vehicle is parked on a residential premises or on a city road next to a residential premises.
(10) Schools, churches, court, hospitals, etc. The creation of any excessive noise on any street that is adjacent to any school, institution of learning, church or court while the same is in session, or is adjacent to any hospital, or medical facility for treatment which interferes with the working or sessions thereof or the persons therein.
(1967 Code, § 12-5) (Ord. passed 7-7-1986; Ord. passed 4-20-1987; Ord. passed 5-26-2009) Penalty, see § 97.99