After a handful of residents voiced their disappointment with Colonie’s new noise ordinance, the Town Board amended the ordinance’s hours and passed it unanimously.
The ordinance, passed at the Thursday, July 16, Town Board meeting, provides for an enforceable limit of 65 decibels from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. from Sunday to Thursday, and 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.
Town Supervisor Paula Mahan motioned to change the weekday start time from 11 p.m. to 10 p.m. after a lengthy public hearing that spanned two board meetings.
Latham resident Eileen Franco said the times put forth in the original ordinance weren’t prudent.
We have two children, she said. `Eleven o’clock at night is unreasonable.`
The noise ordinance has been through many iterations. The decibel level was 75, and dropped to 60 in the first drafts of the new ordinance. After conferring with police, business owners and other concerned parties, town officials said, the allowed decibel level was raised to 65.
This concerned residents at the July 16 meeting.
`I believe the police department needs to enforce the law that is put forth,` said Ken Champagne, of Latham. `Going to 65 is kind of a step back for the public.`
Champagne said he was frustrated with police for pushing for the higher decibel limit.
`I’m fed up with that crap,` he said.
Joe Lombardo lives on Purtell Avenue behind The Roman Pub that fronts Troy Schenectady Road. He echoed Champagne’s statement that the town is putting its residents second.
`I think what you’ve done by raising the level back up to 65, is that you’ve sided with the businesses,` he said.
Champagne also said the town has done nothing to alleviate daytime complaints because the noise limit doesn’t apply to those hours. The elimination of the proposed daytime decibel restriction was done as a result of the June 11 public hearing.
According to Town Attorney Michael Magguilli, Colonie Police Chief Steven Heider, in conversations with the Albany County District Attorney’s Office, learned that if the town were not to have a set decibel limit in place for daytime hours, the DA’s Office could then prosecute individuals who are making excessive noise with disorderly conduct charges.
Magguili said Heider informed the town attorney’s office that if they had set a decibel limit, this prosecution would not be possible. The possible penalty for being charged with disorderly conduct is a fine up to $250 and/or up to 15 days in jail, at the judge’s discretion. It is considered a violation.
Colonie police could enforce these violations, but only if two individuals made the complaint. The complainant and the responding police officer could serve as the two individuals in those cases.
Mahan acknowledged the public’s concerns, but said, `I’d rather see [a] 65 [decibel limit] amended noise law pass, than no resolution pass.`
The first part of the public hearing was held on Thursday, June 11, but was to be continued in July so that town officials could take the concerns of residents who spoke out at the hearing into account.
Town Councilman Bob Becker, who has been working with the town attorney’s office on the new ordinance regulations, said the concerns of the residents have been heard and were made a part of the new regulations. Becker said he was opposed to the change from 60 to 65 decibels, but voted in favor of the resolution. Before voting in approval, he listed other area municipalities with more stringent noise ordinances. Niskayuna has a maximum decibel level of 60 and a curfew of 9 p.m.; Clifton Park and Guilderland have a 50 decibel maximum and a curfew of 10 p.m., he said.
The law provides for a review to be done after six months to gauge the effectiveness of the new ordinance, according to Magguilli, but the board could not specify what sort of report would be generated or how it would be disseminated, as the report, to be completed in January 2010, may be handled by a different administration.
A few residents, however, said regardless of the format of the report, it would be reactive in nature. Data would only be collected after complaints were made to police, they noted.
– Ariana Cohn contributed to the story“