Chadds Ford Township Planning Commission members, in a 2-1 vote, agreed to send a proposed noise ordinance to the Board of Supervisors.
Members Craig Huffman and Tom Singer voted to recommend the ordinance, while newly appointed member Valerie Hoxter voted against. Members Bill Mock and Tom Kerwin did not attend the June 10 commission meeting.
Though she voted against the ordinance, Hoxter said she was glad to see it moving forward. Her objection to the ordinance, as written, concerns a permitting provision that allow for noise levels otherwise prohibited by the ordinance.
The permit costs $100 and is good for one year and would allow for exceptions for multiple events. Hoxter said she felt that was too long a period of time.
Commission Chairman Craig Huffman said he was of the opinion that the permit should be good for a three-year period. He specifically mentioned the annual Great Pumpkin Carve at the Chadds Ford Historical Society. Because CFHS knows when the Carve will be, he said the society should be able to get a permit covering several years.
Township Manager Amanda Serock said whenever a permit to exceed the permitted sound levels is requested, abutting property owners and neighbors within a 500 foot distance would be notified as they currently are with zoning variance requests. If any neighbor contests the permit, a hearing would be scheduled.
One question raised by Open Space Committee Chairman Deborah Reardon was how the ordinance could be enforced.
While the code enforcement officer is responsible for such activity, Huffman acknowledged it would be impossible to have someone with a sound meter go out to investigate every complaint whenever they come in. He said the township could consider testimony from neighbors that there was excess sound coming from a given property.
The ordinance sets maximum allowable sound levels, rated in decibels — or dB(A) — for various zoning districts. In addition to the permitting provisions, other exceptions are written into the ordinance to allow for construction noise and for home maintenance.
Power lawn mowers, for example, exceed the decibel level for residential areas, but their use — along with other home power tools — is allowed, but only during certain hours of the day. Construction hours are also limited.
However, the sound levels and the hours of allowable exceptions are subject to change by the supervisors, Huffman said.
Maurice Todd, a former Planning Commission member and a retired engineer who wrote parts of the ordinance regarding sound levels, said he thinks those levels could be lowered.
The township passed an updated noise ordinance in December of 2005 but, according to Serock, it was accidentally omitted from a 2009 codification of all township ordinances.
About Rich Schwartzman
Rich Schwartzman has been reporting on events in the greater Chadds Ford area since September 2001 when he became the founding editor of The Chadds Ford Post. In April 2009 he became managing editor of ChaddsFordLive. He is also an award-winning photographer.
