Rockmart Council approves ordinances in October session Reps. Graves, Loudermilk oppose Syria resolution
The Rockmart Council has been busy updating its ordinances, and with the approval of new regulations surrounding both loud noises and urban camping in city limits, Rockmart is looking to become a more peaceful place to live.
The city has always regulated activities and technology that creates loud noises, but feeling the ordinance had become too lax, citizens began appearing during council meetings as delegates to issue complaints and ask for change.
Now, hearing the residents, the council has extended the ordinance’s coverage to prohibit the use of various sound-amplifying devices and loud vehicles within certain distances from homes.
“It shall be unlawful for any person to operate or permit to be operated in the City any sound-amplifying devices or equipment for any purpose whatever (with the exception of home amplifying equipment that does not allow loud and raucous noise to emanate from the equipment) whether the same is stationary or operated from a vehicle, unless a permit has been obtained from the chief of police,” the ordinance reads. “Any person to whom a permit has been issued under this section who causes or permits loud and raucous noises shall subject the permit to immediate revocation and be subject to the penalties of Section 1-7 of the Code. Further, it shall be unlawful for any person to make any loud and raucous noise to the disturbance of the peace.”
The ordinance also mentions that no one is permitted to undergo the operation of any vehicle in any manner that would disturb individuals in homes within 250 feet of that vehicle, nor are they allowed to keep a vehicle’s engine running on any public street or public or private property in a way that the noise, fumes, vibrations, or other engine effects would disturb those in a home within 250 feet of the vehicle.
Alternatively, calls for urban camping regulations started from the top.
Director of Community Development Stacey Smith mentioned that since many areas neighboring Polk were planning to or had recently adopted ordinances pertaining to the issue, Rockmart could potentially become an over-centralized hub for urban camping if they failed to introduce one of their own.
The document, approved during the group’s October 8 meeting, simply prohibits individuals from camping in public areas and interfering with the coming and going of people into any building, private property, or public area unless the individual has received valid permits and permissions beforehand.
However, it’s important to recognize how terms like camping and public area are recognized in the ordinance. In this instance, camping means using an area for livingaccommodation purposes such as sleeping, sleeping activities, storing personal property, making a fire, carrying on cooking activities, using a tent or preparing other structures for habitation — among others.
Interfering with the coming and going of people, in this case referred to as ingress or egress, is defined as camping, storing personal property, standing, sitting, lying down, using personal property, or performing any other activity on buildings driveways, streets, alleys, or any other real property that has a limited number of entrances or exits – regardless of whether the property is owned by the city, a private owner, or another public entity.
So, an individual would be in violation of the ordinance if they performed the above activities on public areas defined as locations where the public or a substantial group of people has rightful access to.
These include, but are not limited to, streets, highways, roadways, bridges, sidewalks, alleys, parking lots, decks, plazas, parks, playgrounds, schools, and various others.
It’s important to recognize that citizens can still camp in actual designated camping areas or any area they’ve been given valid permission to, and the storing of personal property would only become a violation if left unattended for more than a hour.
It also doesn’t apply to bicycles that are parked in designated parking areas.
Northwest Georgia’s congressman was among the minority in the 354 to 60 House vote to condemn President Donald Trump’s withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria.
U.S. Rep. Tom Graves, R-Ranger, said the resolution — H.J. Res. 77 — was done without proper deliberation and contains a claim he finds personally offensive: That the abrupt withdrawal is beneficial to adversaries of the United States.
“I agree with President Trump’s goal to keep our country out of endless wars,” Graves said in a Friday statement.
“I also believe it was inappropriate for Speaker (Nancy) Pelosi to bring this resolution to a vote as Vice President (Mike) Pence and Secretary of State (Mike) Pompeo were traveling to Turkey to negotiate the current ceasefire,” the 14th District representative added.
Under an agreement made by the U.S. and Turkey, a ceasefire has been in place since Friday evening to last for five days, during which Kurdish fighters are supposed to pull back from border areas. The cease-fire has been shaken by fighting in one border town, and there so far has been no sign of any withdrawals by the Kurdish-led forces.
U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Cassville, the 11th District congressman who formerly represented Floyd County, also was opposed to the measure, which is now awaiting action in the Senate.
Loudermilk said the resolution doesn’t carry the weight of law and wouldn’t change anything regarding what he described as a “tragic situation.”
“This vote was a tough decision for me, but I had concerns with some of the language used, and that the resolution was rushed to the House floor without going through the normal process,” Loudermilk said.
He and Graves both objected to the lack of classified briefings for all House members.
Graves said he did hear from Defense Secretary Mark Esper prior to the vote but left the meeting convinced that the resolution would harm efforts “to navigate a very complicated situation.”
Democrats hold a slim majority but the measure passed with strong Republican support — a rarity in the House, where GOP members are usually strongly loyal to Trump. The short resolution details the U.S. partnership with Syrian Kurds in the counter-ISIS campaign and recounts the October actions that led to the withdrawal of support and subsequent Turkish incursion.
It ends with a list of five statements: “That Congress— “(1) opposes the decision to end certain United States efforts to prevent Turkish military operations against Syrian Kurdish forces in Northeast Syria;
“(2) calls on Turkish President Erdogan to immediately cease unilateral military action in Northeast Syria and to respect existing agreements relating to Syria;
“(3) calls on the United States to continue supporting Syrian Kurdish communities through humanitarian support, including to those displaced or otherwise affected by ongoing violence in Syria;
“(4) calls on the United States to work to ensure that the Turkish military acts with restraint and respects existing agreements relating to Syria; and
“(5) calls on the White House to present a clear and specific plan for the enduring defeat of ISIS.”