OFF THE WIRE
http://www.seacoastonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20111222/NEWS/112220391/-1/NEWSMAP North Hampton turning to Legislature to fight motorcycle noise
12/22/2011 By Shir Haberman news@seacoastonline.com December 22, 2011 2:00 AM NORTH HAMPTON — Police Chief Brian Page took some heat last year, first for opposing a petitioned warrant article to curtail motorcycle noise in town, and later for refusing to enforce the ordinance after voters passed it by a 2-1 margin.
Page has been vindicated now that a Rockingham Superior Court judge granted a permanent injunction against the town enforcing the ordinance. The ruling was prompted by an action filed by Seacoast Motorcycles Inc., a Harley-Davidson dealer on Lafayette Road, which claimed that because there is a state law governing motorcycle noise, no town can enact a standard that is more restrictive.
"The court agrees with the plaintiff and finds that the subject of motorcycle noise is preempted by the state and that, since the state has not authorized the town to regulate motorcycle noise, the town has no legal authority to adopt or enforce the ordinance," Judge Kenneth McHugh wrote in his Dec. 9 decision.
Page, noting he had yet to see the court order, said he never doubted the outcome of the case, which centered on an ordinance that would have required motorcycles driving through or located in town to have mufflers that complied with the federal EPA standard of 80 decibels. State law allows 106 decibels. Page has supported efforts to lower the decibel limit in state law.
Page said several Seacoast police chiefs and members of the state police look forward to continuing to work with motorcycle riders, New Hampshire Auto Dealers' Association, Seacoast HOG chapter, New Hampshire Motorcycle Rights Organization and lawmakers to come up with legislation that will make it easier and more efficient for law enforcement to test the compliance of motorcycle exhaust sound levels.
State Rep. Michele Peckham, R-North Hampton, is a sponsor of House Bill 1442 scheduled for a Feb. 7 hearing in Concord. The bill would lower the state's motorcycle noise limit to the federal standard, effective Jan. 1, 2013.
She told town leaders earlier this year that three attempts by the Legislature in the past four years to reduce motorcycle noise have failed. She called the opposition from the motorcycle lobby "fierce."
Peckham said the bill was written not to go into effect until 2013 as motorcycle riders and dealers said replacing mufflers would be expensive. "That grandfathers every motorcycle on the road today (that is compliant with the state's 106-decibel standard and) allows motorcycle dealers time to deplete their inventories," she said.
Her bill requires that any motorcycle brought in for servicing after the legislation's effective day would need EPA-compliant mufflers put on at that time. She urged those who supported the town's motorcycle noise ordinance, passed at the 2010 Town Meeting, to support her legislation.
Among those supporting Peckham's bill are Selectman Larry Miller and his wife, former state Rep. Judith Day. Both were prime movers in getting the town ordinance passed. Larry Miller said it would be better to support Peckham's bill than for the town to appeal the court ruling. "Whether she'll be successful in getting the necessary support is still a question," he said.
Town Administrator Steve Fournier said he needed to discuss any further action on the case with the Select Board and town attorney, though he called the decision "pretty cut and dried." "I'm not sure on what grounds we could appeal, but we have to talk to our legal counsel about that," he said.
