City officials discuss decibels

As work continues on establishing a citywide noise ordinance, La Cañada planning commissioners last week raised concerns to city staff and legal services about how the city might regulate subjective and objective decibel levels.

The commission requested an independent expert or quantitative study to assist in finalizing a proposed ordinance before it heads to a City Council vote.

“It’s certainly a good ordinance to have,” said Commissioner Tom Smith. “It’s got to be reasonable.”

Commissioner Arun Jain said he did not feel “temporary construction activity” within different zones was still clearly defined in the proposal, Jain and other commissioners also said that lot of construction that takes place in the city exceeds the 60-decibel threshold permitted by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

“We have to eliminate weekend warriors who are creating most of the problem,” Jain said.

The city’s noise ordinance has been in the works for more than a year, following a neighborhood dispute on Belair Drive. One neighbor said she had a problem with her adjacent neighbor who performed daily carpentry as a hobby. She approached the council about updating the current laws on engaging in loud activities.

“She had a neighbor doing woodwork for his own hobby use,” said Robert Stanley, director of community development. “It wasn’t for pay. He was donating a pew for the church he went to. She had a complaint that he was always doing it and the noise was near her daughter’s room. It was during allowed hours.”

Jain and Stanley said the ordinance will serve as a tool to measure noise at the property line. They cited the differing sizes of residential yard lots in different parts of La Cañada in comparison to what could serve as a buffer zone, as well as the visibility aspect. Violations would be a misdemeanor charge.

The proposal covers maximum noise levels not to be exceeded more than five minutes in any hour between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. Restricted hours may be modified through an approved conditional use permit or temporary use permit, according to the draft. With that, decibel levels would be allowed on weekdays between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. and Saturdays between 9 a.m. and 8 p.m. Noisy construction on Sundays and holidays is not allowed.

“There could be unintended consequences,” Jain said. “We have to be very careful in drafting this ordinance.”

Commissioner Jeffrey McConnell said he thinks the ordinance should also go through the Public Safety Commission, and wants the next update to be a noise ordinance expert or a quantitative study using figures from other jurisdictions.

Kenneth Dapeer, of the Los Angeles-based firm Dapeer, Rosenblit and Litvak, which provides prosecutorial services to the city and is helping prepare the draft ordinance, said that most times in other towns when a peace officer goes out on a noise complaint, there’s nothing wrong.

“The [decibel] number isn’t high enough,” he said. “We’re rarely going to have a situation when it’s at the [property] boundary line.”

Dapeer said other municipalities with noise ordinances often don’t have the means to enforce them. In San Marino, the police department has the tools necessary to enforce, he said.

“It works better for them because they have their own police department and a person trained to use a noise meter,” he said. “For them, it’s enforceable, but they don’t get too many noise complaints.”

Dapeer, who also represents San Marino, said he probably receives half a dozen noise complaints for all the cities his firm represents.

“They don’t happen often,” he added. “When they do, it’s an unusual situation, such as at a project-site level with numerous complaints. Or it happens with one complainant and the violator is spoken to in a nice way.

“In community’s like San Marino and La Cañada, neighbors care about other neighbors,” Dapeer said.

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Matt Sanderson is a contributing writer.