City Council passes more noise restrictions
By Daniel J. Chacon, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)
Published June 9, 2008 at 9:27 p.m.
Updated June 9, 2008 at 9:27 p.m.
Listen up: Denver is taking another swing at noise pollution.
After cracking down on loud motorcycles last year, the City Council today endorsed a series of changes in the noise ordinance that are aimed at making Denver a more tranquil place to live.
The proposed changes, which passed on first reading, are up for final consideration next week.
Contractors would be exempt from noise restrictions at construction sites from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends, reducing the existing restrictions of 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.
"Any construction work outside of those hours would have to meet normal noise restrictions," said Paul Riedesel, who handles noise enforcement for the Department of Environmental Health.
The limit on weekend construction doesn't affect homeowners working on small-scale projects, though there are other noise restrictions, such as on power tools.
The proposed restrictions were born largely from complaints in neighborhoods with a lot of so-called pop-top and scrape-off redevelopments, Riedesel said.
"Some folks, they just would like a break on the weekend," he said. "This would allow people to at least sleep until 8 (a.m.) and also allow them to have a barbecue or a dinner in peace if they're surrounded by construction."
Delivery trucks would be exempt from noise restrictions from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., but they would still have to abide by regular noise limits outside of that time frame.
"We mirrored it after the trash trucks," Riedesel said.
Noise restrictions for snow removal would be exempt from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. during a snowfall or a declared snow emergency.
"After the snowfall or declared snow emergency event has ended, then you will be exempt during the (snow) removal times required by Public Works' rules and regulations," Riedesel said.
Festivals, as defined under the noise ordinance, will be exempt from existing noise limits from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., but they still can't exceed 80 decibels "from the nearest complaining residential property line," he said.
Riedesel said current noise restrictions would still be effect outside of the exempted time frame.
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