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The Noise About Noise
A Hilltop Special
Story researched and developed by Megan Brand, Bob Burnette, Erin Carter,
Bethany Leatherwood, Denise McKillop, and John Walenczyk
There is a lot of noise right now at Mars Hill College about a new ordinance
that is affecting students and people in the community.
The ordinance calls for fines of up to $1,000 for repeatedly playing music
and partying too loud and too late, blowing horns, screeching tires, and making
other noises deemed “unreasonably loud” and “disturbing.”
It applies only in unincorporated parts of the county, outside the town of
Mars Hill, which has its own separate noise ordinance.
Some students doubt that noise could be a problem in a big county, with just
18,000 people spread over 448 square miles, and they believe the new ordinance
is targeted at college students. They ask whether it will be fairly enforced
and note that neither the town nor the county ordinance requires use of a device
to measure the noise.
“It is unfair for the police to not have any reading of how loud the
music is. That’s kind of like your word against theirs,” said senior
Josh Almond. He lives outside the town in the Bull Creek apartments, where many
student parties have been held and where sheriff’s deputies have intervened
in the past.
Madison County Commissioner Eddie Fox says that the new county ordinance “is
not targeted at college students. But quite honestly, college students have
been a problem.” It was Fox who asked that the new ordinance be drawn
up. The five-member board of county commissioners adopted it on July 14.
Fox immediately put to rest the rumor that students are the only ones to blame
for the noise. Many complaints have come from other parts of the county.
“I’ve gotten calls from people about their neighbors waking them
at 3 or 4 o’clock in the morning. Someone working on his race car, and
couldn’t something be done about it, because they have to get up at 5
o’clock in the morning to go to work.”
Ordinances Compared |
Madison County
Passed Jul. 14, 2003
Applies: Unincorpor-
ated County Land
Penalties (Civil)
$100 1st Offense
$200 2nd Offense
$400 3rd Offense
$1,000 4th +
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Town of Mars Hill
Revised Oct. 1, 2001
Applies: Within town limits
Penalties (Criminal)
$200 1st Offense
$300 2nd Offense
$500 3rd +
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He told of one noise incident – not involving college students –
where an elderly couple “who had been born and raised here and lived here
all their lives” couldn’t sleep in their own home at night and had
to be picked up by their relatives and taken to another community to sleep.
On the other hand, students do add to the noise. Fox lives right near the Bull
Creek apartments, where many students stay. “I live there,” said
Fox, “and I have been kept awake, quite honestly with my windows closed.
And quite honestly it played into my decision... Law enforcement would go over
there and ask them to quiet down or whatever, and ten minutes later it was right
back worse than it was.” One worry he had was that in case of a fire or
other emergency, officials would have a hard time getting through the road due
to all the cars.
Fox says the sheriff’s department had a problem “They could say,
‘Cut your radio down,’ or try to break up whatever the noise was,
and they could leave, and it would start up bad.” The ordinance gives
them “a tool to use if people don’t cooperate.”
He said the commissioners considered an ordinance that would have required
a device to measure noise decibels, but they decided the equipment would be
too expensive. That ordinance and another they considered called for criminal
prosecution, whereas the one they finally voted for carries only a civil penalty.
Under the new ordinance, “loud, disturbing, and unnecessary” noises
can include blowing horns; radios, record players, television sets between 11
p.m. and 7 a.m.; “grating, grinding, rattling, screeching of tires”,
shooting a gun within 300 feet of an occupied residence without the owner’s
permission; building operations between 8 p.m. and 7 a.m., bells and gongs,
other than in a church or religious institution; and hawking, peddling or soliciting.
The ordinance doesn’t apply to community celebrations of national, state
or county events or to public festivals. Also exempt are emergency vehicles;
normal operations of any commercial or industrial enterprise, and farming operations,
including machinery, equipment, and farm animals.
Violators can be fined $100 for the first offense, $200 for the second; $400
for the third, and $1,000 for the fourth and subsequent violations.
Many students are having difficulties deciding if this noise ordinance is any
better or any worse than a similar ordinance that has been in effect for years
in the town of Mars Hill and was most recently revised in October 2001. One
difference between the two is that fines for the town ordinance start at $200,
then $300 for the second noise violation, and $500 for the third violation and
every violation after that.
“I hear a lot of mixed feelings,” said Senior Brian Carlestrom,
who lives inside the town limits. “Many don’t like it” he
said, referring to the new county ordinance, “but it is lenient on first
offenders.”
Whereas the county ordinance prohibits the sound of radios, record players,
and television sets primarily between the hours of 11 p.m. and 7 a.m., the Mars
Hill ordinance is not specific about time.
Another difference is that under the Mars Hill ordinance, a violation is treated
as a misdemeanor, a criminal offense that goes on a person’s record and
can only be appealed through the courts. Violations of the Madison County ordinance
result in only a civil penalty and can be appealed to a noise ordinance appeals
board. The catch is the appeal must be made in writing within ten days of the
citation.
Fox said he’d be willing to consider appointment of a student to the
appeals board, which consists of the county zoning enforcement officer, a deputy
sheriff designated by the sheriff, one other county employee, chosen by the
county manager, and two residents of the county, selected by the board of commissioners.
“The only problem with appointing these boards and including a college
student is that they are only here sporadically, and we might have a problem
during the time that school is out for spring break, Christmas break, or summer
break,” he said.
Under the Madison County ordinance, citations are issued to the person who
is in control of the whole property, says Fox. “If you’re renting
the apartment from me, and you are responsible for what is going on there, then
you’d be the one receiving the penalty.” If there are two roommates,
“then they’d probably be sharing the cost.”
Under the Mars Hill ordinance, students say they have received tickets even
without a complaint. Mars Hill Senior John Decker has received two citations.
“I was having a social, and an officer claimed that he could hear my music
from the road,” Decker said. “The next day I confronted my neighbors
on either side of the house and none had complaints. I had notified both of
them that day that I was planning on having a party.”
Mars Hill Police Chief David Lewis acknowledged that officers will approach
a house if they can hear music from the street. “If an officer hears it,
normally he’ll go up and ask them to quiet down and keep it quiet. After
the first warning is given, a citation will be issued.... We figure if we can
hear it from the roadway, it’s loud. It’s going to bother your neighbor.”
Lewis estimates that he receives about 100 complaints a year but has issued
only 10 citations since the ordinance was last revised in 2001. Many of the
complaints relate to high school students driving around with boom boxes. “We
get there and the car is gone and there is no noise, so there’s nothing
we can do.”
The Madison County Sheriff’s deputies have a much bigger territory to
cover and have only two patrol cars. “They really don’t go out patrolling
for no reason,” Fox said. “Basically these noise complaints come
from phone calls.”
Although some students feel personally attacked, some other local residents
say that the noise ordinances are not only fair but necessary.
Linda Ponder and Jane Maney, speaking from behind the counter at Jane’s
RX Drug Store, believe the ordinances to be a “great idea.”
“I hate it (noise), said Ponder. “The apartments are too noisy
near Bailey Street.” Some students, she said, will turn their car radios
so high that “the whole town seems to vibrate when they drive by.”
Dewey and Lisa Brown, owners of the local flower shop, also say the ordinance
is necessary. Mrs. Brown added however that she would not mind the car radios
if the cars driving by were playing music she likes ---- “Elvis.”
She noted that one neighbor moved away because of the noise of late-night shooting.
The shooter was later found to be targeting rats roaming in the back yard.
The Brown’s son Harold, who works next door at the new restaurant, Areopagus,
said that “at certain times it should be quiet” and that eleven
o’clock at night is an appropriate time. But he also admitted, “I
play my music loud, and I’m 32 years old.”
Stephanie DeLoach, Chip Oglesby, Steve Sheaffer, and Matt Wilson also contributed to this story.
Click for full text of the noise ordinances for:
Madison County
The Town of Mars Hill
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