BREA : Stiffer Noise Penalty Debated by Council

A proposal to stiffen the penalties for violating Brea’s noise ordinance was itself the cause of some noise among City Council members at their meeting last week.

City officials had proposed changing the city’s municipal code to make violating the noise limits a misdemeanor, rather than the infraction it is under current city law. The change, officials said, would make enforcement of the noise ordinance easier.

With the addition of a city prosecutor last year, Brea now has the mechanism for enforcing the ordinance in court, staff members told the council.

But Councilman Ron Isles questioned the need for the stiffer charge if, as the staff reported, 95% of the violations are handled effectively as infractions.

“Is there some way we can make (violating the ordinance) an infraction on the first offense and a misdemeanor for second offenders?” Isles asked.

While City Manager Frank Benest assured the council that the city does give plenty of warning to offenders before even citing them with an infraction, both Isles and Mayor Carrey J. Nelson criticized the amendment and asked the staff to research changing only the second offense to a misdemeanor.

The council will take the issue up again at its July 3 meeting.