Town, UNC Examine Noise Rules

The Chapel Hill Town Council held a public hearing to gather feedback from residents on the proposed changes, which included reducing the acceptable sound level in residential districts from 60 to 50 decibels during the day and from 50 to 45 decibels at night.

The proposal would limit noise from boomboxes and car radios to a 50-foot radius and would also reduce the availability of permits to exceed noise levels for special events. The council plans to vote on the proposal in the fall.

At the hearing, Larry Royster of Environmental Noise Consultants Inc., presented the council with ENC's recommended revision of the town's noise ordinance. The town contracted with ENC in September 1999.

Local police are responsible for enforcing the ordinance with specialized noise meters.

Royster said the ordinance needed to be strengthened to preserve Chapel Hill's peaceful environment.

"You have a community that is much quieter than what you typically might run into," he said. "The goal should be to keep that."

But about a dozen students attended the meeting to voice concern that the proposal could unfairly limit college students' enjoyment.

UNC Student Body President Justin Young said he feared the proposed changes would make the ordinance too strict and unfairly target the Greek community.

"Our concerns with the noise ordinance stem from a fear that the University would be alienated from the rest of the town," Young said.

Young also spoke in favor of existing decibel levels in residential areas and the present system that allows residents to obtain exemption permits on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. The new proposal would allow exemptions only on Fridays and Saturdays.

Chapel Hill Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Aaron Nelson raised another concern -- that most people would not know the decibel level of any given sound.

"This would create a system in which people don't know if they're in compliance," he said.

But others defended the proposed changes to the ordinance. Royster pointed out that only constant, loud noises would be affected by the new ordinance and that regulations concerning noises such as loud talking would not be changed.

Council member Pat Evans also said she thinks the new ordinance would be a good idea, provided that it would not restrict all festivities for the town.

"It seems to me that what we want to do is allow the good things in our community to continue and get rid of the negative parts of the noise," Evans said.

Royster also said the proposed changes, unlike the present ordinance, make distinctions by zone, so that commercial and industrial areas can have higher levels of background noise than residential zones.

"The proposed ordinance is better in that it does not deal with just one or two particular instances," he said. "Now, it's one ordinance; it pertains to everybody."

Both Royster and Young said the hearing had been helpful.

"From the responses of the council, I think (our comments) were well-received," Young said. "I think they had an attentive ear for everyone involved.

"It's always a positive thing to hear that open dialogue between students and the community."

The City Editor can be reached at citydesk@unc.edu.