Noise Ordinance Update (meeting held at Seacoast Harley-Davidson)

FYI, OFF THE WIRE
North Hampton Business Association Update:

On Thursday, June 24th, the following organizations met at Seacoast Harley Davidson to discuss the subject of the Noise Ordinance:

Town Manager, Steve Fournier
Selectboard Members Rineman and Meggiore
Four members of the Harley Davidson staff including John Magongle, Al Contoise and-----
Two members of the MAX BMW dealership including General Manager Frank Margolis
Don Jeka, owner of Greatbay Motorcycles
Chief of Police Brian Page and his Deputy
Peter McNamara President of the New Hampshire Auto Dealers Association (NHADA)
Rick Fucci, Bert Garry and Jim Better from the NHBA
The Noise Ordinance Citizens Petition (Article 26 on the ballet) will go into force on July 11th making it illegal to park or operate a motorcycle in North Hampton that does not display an approved EPA sticker on its exhaust system or on some other location on the motorcycle.

The Police Department will not be enforcing the law due to an insurance company determination that the law is illegal and therefore, the Police Department would not be protected from suites as a result of enforcement efforts.

The Police Department intends to continue to enforce existing state law pertaining to all excessive noise (over 106 decibels) whether from motorcycles or other sources

Town officials are contemplating two actions: ask the EPA for a ruling on the matter or bring the issue to a court for a declaratory judgment.

The NHADA is contemplating filing an injunction to stop the ordinance from becoming law on July 11th. They also made it clear that they will be using their legal defense fund to help the motorcycle dealerships with the issue

The result is that, although there will be a new law relative to motorcycle noise, nothing will be done to enforce the new rules until an EPA or State Court ruling is rendered.

For more information please email northhamptonbiz@gmail.com