City adjusts noise rules
Published 12:01 am Wednesday, March 4, 2009
A proposed noise ordinance for the City of Andalusia has been revised with a focus on reducing noises from vehicles.
Mayor Earl Johnson said the previously proposed ordinance was very detailed and would have been difficult to enforce.
“What we’ve tried to do is to identify the major problem areas in the city and deal with the noise that creates nuisances,” Johnson said.
The revised ordinance, for which the council had the first reading last night, makes it unlawful:
To use compression release engine brakes, also known as “Jake Brakes.”
To discharge into the open air the exhaust of any internal combustion engine of any motor vehicle except through a muffler in good working order and in constant operation. The sound therefrom shall not be such that it is audible outside a radius of 50 feet of the vehicle.
To operate sound amplification systems in any motor vehicle which is plainly audible outside a radius of 25 feet.
If approved at the council’s next meeting, set for March 24, the ordinance would require that first offenders receive a warning, and that violators be fined not less than $50 and not more than $500 or up to six months in jail for subsequent offenses.