KANNAPOLIS — For four years, Joyce and Tyrone Ivey say they’ve woken up in the
middle of the night to motorcycle engines running wide open and a house full of rattling
windows.The Iveys, who have
lived in a neighborhood by Centergrove Road for 47 years, say they’re tired of
calling police to complain. Monday night, they plan to ask Kannapolis officials to pass a
new set of laws.
“We’ve been putting up
with this for what seems like a lifetime,” Joyce said. “I’ve call the
police so many times, I’m about embarrassed.”
Danny “Dano” Simmons
owns Cyclone Cycle, a motorcycle shop beside the Iveys’ home. He said the new noise
ordinance the Iveys want would force him to shut down his business. Switching on a
cylinder-boring machine inside his shop that hums no louder than a rewinding VCR, he says
the ordinance’s vague wording would force him to stop working at night — even if
neighbors can’t hear the work.
Simmons said the city has
constantly harassed him since he opened in October 1995. Police have come by two or three
times a week but have never cited him.
“It’ll definitely affect
my business,” Simmons said. “Some of this ordinance doesn’t even relate to
noise.”
In Kannapolis, such conflicts have
come up in many places — especially along Centergrove and Jackson Park roads, where
older mill neighborhoods bump up against businesses. Residents complain of thumping car
stereos, barking dogs, garages and a night club near Cannon Boulevard.
Changes the city council will
consider Monday night could help resolve many of them. But the proposed ordinance has
several business owners like Simmons worried, Kannapolis Police Chief Paul Brown
acknowledged.
The meeting is at 7 in the city
council chamber at 314 S. Main St.
“This has generated a good
bit of interest, particularly to some local business owners,” Brown said.
“There’s a lot of fear in the community that we’re just going to
arbitrarily come out and start issuing tickets.”
In the past year, Kannapolis
police have received 539 calls for loud music alone, with no total available for all
noise-related problems. Police issued citations for about 10 percent of those complaints,
Brown said.
The current ordinance permits
certain levels of noise based on how land is used, the time of day and whether the owner
has a permit for an event, such as a back-yard party. Police must use a handheld decibel
meter to measure noise.
Brown says that the ordinance is
often ineffective because by the time police arrive to where a complaint is made, the
noise has stopped.
The new ordinance would allow
those who make complaints to testify in court for a conviction, rather than just relying
on decibel levels. Violators could face a fine of up to $100 and 30 days in prison.
Rather than limit the volume of
noise, the new ordinance simply limits noises that are “unreasonably loud and
disturbing” — a term it doesn’t define. Brown said the newer ordinance
actually would be easier to enforce.
“I guess that could be
considered arbitrary and unreasonable, but so is a decibel meter,” he said.
“Fifty-five decibels might be an irritation to me, but it might not be to you.”
Residents seeking a permit to
temporarily breach the new ordinance would require them to let neighbors in a 1,000-foot
radius know in writing. “Currently, if you come in and say you want to have a block
party, there’s no requirement that you go out and tell your neighbors,” Brown
said.
Some kinds of noise would still be
exempt: trains, aircraft, athletic events, church bells, construction work during
“permissible” hours, safety signals and warning equipment, agricultural
equipment, noise from fireworks allowed under a valid permit, practice sessions by
marching bands and community concerts and street fairs conducted or allowed by city
council.
District Attorney Mark Speas
declined to say whether the proposed new ordinance would be easier or more difficult to
enforce.
“We will enforce the new
ordinance if that is what the city council adopts,” he said. |
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