12.02- Bring the Noise!

[January 6, 2009 update: Click here for photo & coverage of noise ordinance discussion at Jan. 6 Town Board]


Oriental Mayor Bill Sage's gavel rests (for the moment) on the table at the Oriental Town Board of Commissioners meeting

Tonight's agenda for the Oriental Town Board of Commissioners meeting included discussion of possible revisions to the Town's "Noise Ordinance."

This is a contentious issue at the moment... Mayor Bill Sage pointed out that he had never brought a gavel to a Town Board meeting before, but had dug it out for this one.

The existing noise ordinance has been in place for decades, perhaps a hundred years (I will have to check), and relies on squishy subjective language that prohibits noises that are "annoying" to a "reasonable person" in the circumstances.

The meeting is is the culmination of an increasing number of complaints to Town police about the volume of live music at the "Tiki Bar," an outdoor deck with bar at the Oriental Marina & Inn on Raccoon Creek, and at a couple of other locations in town.

Some of the Commissioners are now proposing that the Town adopt a more modern "objective" noise ordinance that sets maximum levels in decibel measurements...

Click here to read more about it, and see additional pictures from the meeting on my other blog, "The Dinghy Dock."

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