Proposed Fairfield noise ordinance gets mixed reviews

FAIRFIELD — Changes have been made to a proposed update for the town’s noise ordinance, but Republican Representative Town Meeting members say it’s too restrictive.

Jill Vergara, the Democrat from District 7 who spearheaded the ordinance’s re-write, said at a committee meeting that the changes were based on public feedback. However, the proposal was still met with opposition, just as it was when the first proposed changes were presented.

The new changes included extending the hours in which people could do things such as mow their lawns on weekend evenings, clearly defining the “plainly audible” standard to be about sound production devices, creating cutouts for certain activities and events that tend to be noisy and making nighttime hours universally start at 10 p.m..

Effectively, the plainly audible standard would allow police officers to use their discretion if called for noise complaints, determining on their own if something is too loud instead of using a decibel measuring device, of which the police department only has one. Vergara edited the proposal after concerns were raised that the new standard could be used more broadly.

Vergara said the police department rarely enforces the noise ordinance, and issues a breach of peace charge when it does. She said the plainly audible standard is a new tool the department could use to enforce it.

“We shouldn’t have to say that we should compel the police to enforce language that is on our books, but I’ve been trying to put it in really diplomatic words that this is a new way that other towns have been really successful in enforcing their ordinance,” she said. “It’s something that I would really like our police department to be able to do.”

Another change made was making nighttime hours start at 10 p.m. instead of 9 p.m. on weekdays and 8 p.m. on weekends. She also lowered the standard for noise that is too loud during nighttime hours to match the state standard of 45 decibels.

Vergara pointed out throughout the meeting that the noise ordinance is only supposed to protect people from “excessive noise,” and changes such as the plainly audible standard gives police more leeway in enforcing that.

Changes were also made to the proposal to create more cutouts that would not fall under the ordinance. Vergara said that was done in response to concerns that the ordinance would be used to punish things, such as children playing, people talking loudly at parties or people celebrating at public events, including sporting events or parades.

Another addition was allowing people to apply for variances when having private events that might create more noise, such as a birthday party.

Another change was extending the hours people are allowed to do things such as mow their lawn or use power tools until 8 p.m. on weekends, matching that of weekdays, as the initial proposal cut that off at 6 p.m. The latest version also changed to prevent starting those types of activities until 7 a.m. on weekdays and 8 a.m. on weekends. The ordinance does not currently have set start and end times for these activities.

Jeff Steele, a District 2 RTM member, said 8 p.m. was limiting for yard maintenance, especially for people who commute to the New York City and don’t get home until around then.

“I think this is just further limiting what you can and cannot do in life,” he said.

Vergara said she thought that time was a good balance between people who have a right to not be disturbed by excessive noise and people who need to do chores. Member Dru Mercer Georgiadis, from District 9, echoed those sentiments.

“This is about noise,” she said. “This is not about mowing your lawn.”

One of Fairfield’s noise complaint hot spots is the beach area, where residents near Burr Mansion, a town-owned building serving as a venue for private events, has been the source of frequent complaints about loud music.

Vergara said the ordinance has to be on the RTM agenda for two months, giving the public a chance to comment on it. Therefore, it would be on the agenda for the May meeting and be voted on in June.