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An Ordinance of the County of Allegheny, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, providing for noise control within the Allegheny County Park System to protect the health and welfare of the residents of Allegheny County and visitors to the County's parks; and, further providing for penalties for violation of its provisions.
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WHEREAS, excessive, unnecessary, and unusually loud noises in the Allegheny County parks that are prolonged or unreasonable in their time, place, and use, affect and are a detriment to the welfare, contentment, safety, health, and peace and quiet of the residents of Allegheny County and visitors to the County's parks; and
WHEREAS, exposure to excessive noise levels can cause permanent hearing loss with relatively short exposure, and hearing damage that is irreversible and jeopardizes the enjoyment and comfort of our residents and visitors; and
WHEREAS, to prevent excessive noise that may jeopardize the health and welfare of our residents and degrade their quality of life, the Allegheny County Council finds it appropriate to establish noise control levels within the Allegheny County Parks System.
The Council of the County of Allegheny hereby enacts as follows:
SECTION 1.
The following words when used in this Ordinance shall, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, be defined as follows:
Decibel - A unit of measure of noise level designated by the symbol dB.
dB(A) - The symbol designation of a noise level, reported in decibels, using the A-Weighting network of a sound level meter, as defined in American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Publication S1.4 - Specification for Sound Level Meters. For purposes of this ordinance, the noise level shall be measured using the slow exponential time weighting characteristic of the sound level meter.
Noise Level - The sound that is measured as sound pressure level in decibels, recorded as the visual average for any continuous measurement period of thirty (30) seconds, and the maximum measured at any time.
Park Facility - Any one of the nine parks within the County Parks System: Boyce, Deer Lakes, Harrison Hills, Hartwood, North Park, Round Hill, Settler's Cabin, South Park, and White Oak.
Premises - Any lot, plot, or parcel of land, including any structure thereon, from which a noise level emanates.
Receiving Premises - All lands, and buildings or structures thereon, equipment or appurtenances connected or used therewith and any personal property affixed or otherwise used in connection with use of such premises affected by noise level emanating from another premises.
Special Event - A pre-planned event or series of events sponsored by a public or private person or entity which is located wholly or partially on property within a parks facility, owned or maintained by the County.
Sound Level Meter - An instrument, including a microphone, amplifier, RMS detector and integrator, time averager, output meter or visual display or both, and weighted networks, that is sensitive to pressure fluctuations. The instrument reads sound pressure level if properly calibrated and is of type 2 or better as specified in American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Publication S1.4-1971 or its successor publications.
Sound Pressure Level - In decibels, ten (10) times the logarithm (to the base ten (10)) of the ratio of the square of a sound pressure to the square of the reference sound pressure of twenty (20) microPascals.
SECTION 2.
No person shall transmit or cause to be transmitted any noise created by loudspeaker(s), audio amplification device(s), or other similar device(s) in excess of 100 dB as measured at the premises, or in excess of 90 dB as measured at the receiving premises.
SECTION 3.
Applications for a permit for relief from the noise restrictions in this ordinance on the basis of undue hardship may be made to the Department of Parks & Recreation.
A. Any application receiving the support of the Department of Parks & Recreation shall be submitted with an affirmative recommendation to County Council for approval of the permit for relief.
B. The recommendation shall include any conditions upon which the permit should be granted, including, but not limited to, the effective dates, time of day, location, sound pressure level, or equipment limitation.
C. When considering such request, County Council shall grant relief upon a sufficient showing that:
1. Additional time or cost would be required for the applicant to alter or modify his or her activity or operation to comply with this ordinance;
2. The activity, operation, or noise source will be of temporary duration and cannot be performed in a way that would comply with this ordinance; or
3. No reasonable alternative is available to the applicant.
D. Such resolution authorizing a permit of relief shall be submitted a minimum of thirty (30) days prior to the event. Once approved by County Council, the Department of Parks & Recreation may issue a permit of relief to the applicant.
SECTION 4.
The Allegheny County Police Department is responsible for the enforcement of this ordinance and shall handle all inquiries and complaints regarding possible violations.
SECTION 5.
Unless the noise level is more than three (3.0) dB(A) over the maximum allowable noise levels at either the premises or receiving premises, plus five (5.0) dB(A) if the measurement is not an average over thirty (3) seconds, no fine may be imposed for violations of those limits.
SECTION 6.
Any person violating any provision of this ordinance shall be fined not more than three hundred dollars ($300.00) and costs for each offense. Any person who has repeatedly violated any provision of this ordinance shall be prohibited from receiving a permit to use any park facility.
SECTION 7. If any provision of this Ordinance shall be determined to be unlawful, invalid, void or unenforceable, then that provision shall be considered severable from the remaining provisions of this Ordinance which shall be in full force and effect.
SECTION 8. Any Resolution or Ordinance or part thereof conflicting with the provisions of this Ordinance is hereby repealed so far as the same affects this Ordinance.