Stratford may raise some noise limits
By Kevin O’Brien
Stratford businesses would officially be allowed to be a little louder under a proposal to raise the village’s noise limit by 10 decibels for commercial and industrial properties.
The village’s Public Safety Committee voted to recommend raising the decibel limits at its May 20 meeting after reviewing the village’s current ordinance and comparing it to similar ordinances in the city of Marshfield and villages of Athens and Spencer.
The committee’s discussion originated from a series of complaints by a village resident who lives near the industrial park. Police chief Tom Koontz said the homeowner complains every year about the early-morning noises coming from a nearby metal stamping operation.
Koontz said he used a decibel reader app on his phone to measure the noise in the industrial park and found that virtually every business there is exceeding the 75 decibel limit currently in the village’s ordinance.
“Basically, anybody who’s got an air handler is violating the ordinance,” he said.
Instead of trying to enforce the current levels, which Koontz and others consider too low, the committee decided to look at raising them to a more realistic range for industrial operations. A decibel chart provided to the committee indicated that everything from a
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dial tone on a phone to city traffic could exceed 75 decibels.
Under the current ordinance, the stationary noise limit for residential areas is 60 decibels during the daytime and 50 at night (between a refrigerator and normal conversation). Commercial zones are limited to 70 decibels around the clock, and “all other zones,” including industrial, are 75 decibels 24 hours a day. The recommendation from the committee is to raise the commercial limit to 80 and “all other zones” (non-residential) to 85.
The ordinance also addresses “loud and unnecessary” noises, ranging from horns and sirens to construction operations, which each have their own restrictions based on the time and duration of the sound emitted.
Trustee Troy Wiesman said industrial companies need to have more flexibility in order to conduct their operations.
“I’ve worked in manufacturing my whole life, and you’re going to make noise,” he said.
The committee also authorized the police department to purchase a decibel reader in order to help with enforcement. Chief Koontz said he believes he can buy one for about $100 and use money from his department’s budget.
Other business
■ Trustee Damon Engelbretson went over his recommendations for changing the village’s hunting ordinance and updating its hunting zone map to put them more in line with how property owners actually use their land while still protecting public safety. No action was taken. Engelbretson said he just wanted to get the committee’s first impressions and would formalize his proposals for a future meeting.
■ Committee members agreed to have the village try out a free resident alert system (RAS) through Remind.com, which allows residents to sign up for notifications on everything from weather alerts and power outages to street closures and voice messages.
