In its ongoing efforts to craft a town noise ordinance, the Cazenovia Town Board on Sept. 8 closed the public hearing on the proposed law, reintroduced a revised and amended version of the law and scheduled a new public hearing for Oct. 6 to continue public comments.
The main revision to the law was a change to the hours during which “unreasonable noise” is measured and an increase of the decibel level that constitutes “unreasonable noise” during the proposed hours. The revision also includes some tightening of the legislative language, such as making certain exceptions more specific to farming or religious purposes and including the New York State Police as one of the law enforcement agencies that can enforce the new law.
“Through looking at other noise ordinances and talking among ourselves, since [the state Department of Agriculture and Markets] will not weigh in on law way it was written … we’re trying to come up with law that will withstand Ag and Markets interpretation of what’s allowed,” said Supervisor Bill Zupan. “What we don’t want to happen is to pass a law that’s very restrictive and have Ag and Markets tell us, ‘No you can’t have any restrictions on noise.’ Were trying to find a median that we can have quiet in neighborhood and still let Owera function.”
The board introduced the proposed noise ordinance — as well as a proposed new special events law — in May in order to prevent and control excessive noise and to establish procedures and requirements to hold special events. The proposals were the result of the controversy between Owera Vineyards and its East Lake Road neighbors last summer due to the winery’s events — about which the neighbors complained of excessive amplified music, among other things, and Owera received violation citations from the town.
The board has held public hearings on the two laws for the past three months at its regular monthly meetings in order to received public comment and input. The reactions have been mixed, with some residents and businesses calling the laws necessary and proper, and others calling them overly restrictive and unnecessary. Numerous suggestions have been offered on how the board should revise the proposed law to fix the perceived shortcomings.
The board has taken many of those suggestions into consideration for its newly proposed revision, as well as the few suggestions the town has received from the state Department of Agriculture and Markets, Zupan said.
The revisions include a change in the “Standards” section of the law, which explains the hours and decibel levels of reasonable and unreasonable noise. The new standards state that from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days a week, the noise limit is 70 decibels, while from 10 p.m.to 7 a.m., seven days a week, the limit is 65 decibels.
The previous proposal a 65 decibel limit from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and a 50-decibel limit from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. Sunday through Thursday; and a 65-decibel limit from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. and a 50-decibel limit from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.
“We really thought about it, and using our phones as noise decibels, [saw that] we talk louder around table than 50 decibels, so we thought that a little too restrictive. We went to village [noise ordinance] and mirrored them because that seems to be working pretty well,” Zupan said.
The revision also added some qualifiers to the listed exceptions to the law’s provisions. Noise from agricultural equipment now includes the phrase “being used for farming, while noise from church bells or chimes not includes the phrase “for religious purposes.”
The redlined version of the proposed changes to the law — done so residents may see exactly what changes were made — will be available on the town website starting Tuesday, Sept. 9.
The board has made no revisions currently to the proposed special events law, and continued the public hearing on that for Oct. 6 as well.
Also at the meeting, the board:
—Announced that all water restrictions due to the aquatic herbicide treatment of Cazenovia Lake have been lifted by the town, although the warning about elevated levels of blue-green algae in the lake remains in effect. All residents and lake users are advised to avoid contact with areas of the lake with visible blooms (where the water appears green or streaky) and to not allow pets in the water.
—Held a public hearing on the proposed joint sewer consolidation agreement, during which no members of the public offered comments. The board then closed the public hearing and unanimously approved the resolution. The full resolution can be found online at townofcazenovia.org.
—Approved an inter-municipal agreement with the village to allow the Cazenovia Volunteer Fire Department to use part of the town highway department building and grounds to conduct training and exercises for its members. The town will not charge any rent for the proposed usage and any costs associated with the training and exercises will be paid for by the CVFD. “This is a good way for the town and village to work together — it just shows cooperation,” Zupan said.
—Changed the dates for its next two monthly meetings due to the upcoming budget process to Monday, Oct. 6, and Tuesday, Nov. 4. Both meetings will still be held at 7: 30 p.m. in the town office.
—Approved the use of four town roads for the 2014 Pumpkin Run fundraiser for the Cazenovia Class of 2019. The run is scheduled to occur at 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 26.
—Authorized the purchase of a new three-quarter ton truck and stainless steel plow by the town highway department at a cost not to exceed $37,735.
Jason Emerson is editor of the Cazenovia Republican. He can be reached at [email protected].
