The Rye City Council is considering changes to its noise ordinance laws, which would allow enforcement officers to use their discretion when landscaping equipment is being used for emergency work.
A public hearing at the Oct. 7 city council meeting will discuss the proposed local law, which would amend two sections of the city code concerning noise and machine-operated equipment.
City code currently states motorized landscaping equipment, including lawn mowers, leaf blowers, and other outdoor machine-powered equipment, is permitted only between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. on weekdays, and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekends.
Similarly, construction work must occur between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. on weekdays, and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays. Individuals have a longer window to do work on their own property, from 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays, and from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.
The proposed amendment would allow for exemptions if “the activity observed is necessary or justified for emergency purposes based upon the reasonable discretion of the City official who observes such work and who is authorized to issue related tickets, citations, and notices to appear.”
“It amends two sections of our code,” City Manager Brian Shea said Wednesday of the proposed changes. “This is in response to a public comment from our August meeting about emergency work.”
During the council’s Aug. 12 meeting, Planning Commission Chairman Nick Everett shared a story about his experience following an Aug. 7 storm in Rye.
Everett said a maple tree fell across his driveway and landed up against his house during the storm. He called a local tree company that night to handle the tree’s removal the next morning, Saturday, Aug. 8, but a neighbor filed a noise complaint, and workers were told to pause until later in the day.
“At 9:15, the police showed up and said they had to stop,” Everett said. “They said you can’t make noise until 10 o’clock on Saturdays. This was an emergency situation. We could not get in and out of our house except for crawling through bushes.
“I think that’s a major flaw in the law, and it should be considered, for emergencies, to remove trees that block access to homes.”
Everett said the police who came to his property were “extremely polite and helpful,” but were following the city code as it’s currently stated after a neighbor filed a complaint.
If the amendments pass Oct. 7, residents in situations like Everett’s could potentially have work done at any hour outside their homes, depending on the circumstances of the emergency.
