Noise Monitoring and Control
For Your Community
January, 2009
Lenny Everson
Ontario, Canada
lennypoetn@yahoo.com or
everson@golden.net
Introduction
The Problem
You have a noise problem. Most often this comes from motorbikes, ATVs (all-terrain vehicles), and leaf blowers, but there are always cars without adequate mufflers, and people with no sense of volume on outdoor speakers. Men, particularly young men, are the primary generators of noise, but that's neither here nor there when it comes to solutions.
I'll try to be brief about the definitions and all that preliminary stuff and get to the solutions.
If the neighbor chucks a rock through your window, you know that you have cause for legal action. But if the neighbor installs a noisy muffler on his car or uses his leaf blower every warm day for three hours, you probably don't know if that's illegal, how you tell that it's illegal, or whether the local police have someone who can tell you that and do something about it.
Even the police noise bylaw officers (if there are any) may have no way of proving noise is excessive unless they can define "excessive" - and prove it to a judge.
The Solutions
This web site currently does not try to cover noise from dogs or industry. Perhaps later.
Noise: What it is and What's Excessive [Noise02]
Methods of Measuring Noise [Noise03]
How to Establish a Bylaw [Noise04]
Sample Bylaws [Noise05]
Specific Problem Areas [Noise06]
Outdoor Motor Noise Abatement Program (OMNAP) [Noise07]
If You're a Private Citizen With a Complaint [Noise08]
If You're a City Councillor With an Agenda [Noise09]
If You're a City Councillor With an Agenda [Noise10]
Dealing with Special Events [Noise12]
Web Links, Source Material, Odd Notes [Noise11]