Plain City Council will once again consider noise regulations throughout the village.
During council’s most recent work session, Zoning Inspector Derek Hutchinson asked council for guidance as to how the Planning and Zoning Committee should address noise regulations while working on the zoning code rewrite.
The idea of incorporating sound restrictions into the zoning code gained steam late last year when Council Clerk/Management Analyst Justin Dreier shared proposed updates for the village’s property maintenance code.
While the code, which currently falls under the zoning code, addresses “nuisances,” Dreier explained at the time that the term refers to things like “junk cars” and unkempt areas.
However, a number of residents have since spoken publicly to urge council to include language in the property maintenance code that restricts sound levels.
Hutchinson explained that members of the Planning and Zoning Committee are willing to research potential ways to incorporate regulations into the zoning code, but need council’s guidance.
He said the zoning code cannot include restrictions on decibel levels, but it could be possible to address permitted uses. He said permits are already necessary for events like Rock the Clock and Fourth of July celebrations.
However, Hutchinson said he does not feel that zoning regulations should be used to manage noise concerns.
“I suggest we keep them separate,” he said. “Noise doesn’t belong in the zoning code.”
A number of council members also said they felt the noise ordinance and zoning code should be considered separately.
Council member Michael Terry said he feels incorporating discussions surrounding noise regulations into the zoning code will only slow the process.
“My opinion is, if we’re going to debate about the noise ordinance, let’s not have it within the zoning code,” he said.
Listing noise regulations in both an ordinance and within the zoning code could become confusing, Council member Jim Eudaily said.
Council member Frank Reed said, regardless of where the legislation is found, he feels that the village’s regulations on noise need to be revisited. He said he feels the current ordinance is “inadequate to protect our residents.”
Eudaily agreed that council should reconsider its current legislation.
“The residents have spoken up,” he said. “We need to make it stronger.”
Throughout 2021, council extensively debated whether to keep the existing language of the noise ordinance or implement specific decibel restrictions.
Ultimately, council kept language that abides by the “reasonable person standard,” which prohibits noise that is “plainly audible and likely to cause inconvenience or annoyance to persons of ordinary sensibilities” after 9 p.m. on weekdays and 11 p.m. on weekends.
Plain City Police Department Chief Dale McKee urged council to wait before reconsidering the ordinance.
He said PCPD is currently part of a criminal case involving a violation of the noise ordinance that is scheduled to be tried in the Madison County Common Pleas Court on Feb. 21.
McKee said the attorney of the individual who was charged already filed an appeal claiming the village’s noise ordinance is unconstitutional. He said PCPD is waiting for an opinion from the Ohio Attorney General.
Mayor Jody Carney said she agrees with members of council in that they have heard enough concerns from residents to warrant a new discussion on the matter. However, she said she does feel it is appropriate to wait for more information from the court.
She said the topic will appear on a future work session agenda for further work session.