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Now hear this! Committee considers changes to noise ordinance
By ETHAN SHOREY
, Valley Breeze Staff Writer
PAWTUCKET - One city official is seeking tighter restrictions on motorcycles due to complaints of excessive noise, while another, an avid biker who has strong ties to the local motorcycle community, is calling the proposal "subjective" and "biased."
District 6 City Council member Jim Chadwick would like to see motorcycles quieted through a new law that would give police wide-ranging authority to impose fines for loud noise.
Chadwick's proposal specifically targets motorcycles. All it would take for police to issue a fine is for them to find that excessive noise is the result of an exhaust system that "has been modified in such a way to generate a higher sound level than would be generated by" the manufacturer's exhaust system.
But City Councilor Albert Vitali Jr. isn't hearing it.
"I have people who are sensitive to my loud voice because I speak loud," he said.
"If the ordinance passed and specified motorcycles only, the police could sit out in front of a business on a daily basis and issue fines any time they want," said Vitali.
Businesses like Precision Harley-Davidson, which "pay extreme amounts of taxes," said Vitali, would be killed by such an ordinance.
Vitali wants to see any mention of motorcycles removed from any revised noise ordinance. Further he wants any revisions to include language that sets specific, measurable decibel level limits that apply to all vehicles.
Vitali, who owns a Harley-Davidson Road King Classic with an original factory exhaust, said he will not let his love of bikes cloud his judgment in seeking the best noise ordinance possible.
He wants to see a predetermined decibel level incorporated into the noise ordinance for all types of vehicles "instead of picking on" certain ones.
Chadwick said last week that the ordinance he set forth has "bite" in fixing a "quality of life" issue.
"It's a tool for us to use," he said.
Chadwick said that one of the worst areas for loud motorcycles is Webster Street, where motorcycles that he says are louder than the average motorcycle are the norm as they leave the social clubs there late at night.
"We're not talking about bikes like Al drives," he said.
The following is the portion of the proposed ordinance that has Vitali the most worked up:
"Every motor vehicle shall at all times (be) equipped with a muffler in good working order and in constant operation to prevent excessive or unusual noise and annoying smoke.
"No person shall use a muffler cutout, bypass, or similar device up on a motor vehicle on a street or highway within the city of Pawtucket. Any exhaust system shall be deemed defective and in violation of this subsection if any changes, modifications, alterations, deletions or adjustments have been made which would cause the exhaust system to generate a higher or louder sound level than would be generated by the manufacturer's original equipment."
Ordinance Committee Chairman Tom Hodge said last week that he likes the idea that the proposed noise ordinance includes all vehicles, but isn't sure why motorcycles are specifically targeted. Like the city's ordinance on loud music, said Hodge, he thinks a decibel-metering system for vehicles could also make a positive impact. Motor vehicles should be defined as state law defines them, he said.
Chadwick would like to see the following replaced: "It shall be unlawful for any person to operate any motor-driven vehicle within the city in such a manner that a reasonable person of normal sensitiveness residing in the area is caused discomfort or annoyance."
Instead, "any sound or noise emanating from any motor vehicle," sound that is "audible to a person of reasonably sensitive hearing at a distance of 200 feet from its source," would be considered a violation.
According to Police Chief Paul King, a tougher noise ordinance would give police an open door to clean up noise pollution. Police would not target the bikers who rev their engines to avoid getting hit by oncoming traffic as he merges onto I-95, said King, but the ones like the two that ride up Smithfield Avenue almost every night at around 11 p.m., shaking the buildings as they go.
Committee members said they want all interested parties to have a say in any changes that might ultimately be approved as part of a new noise ordinance. The ordinance committee will likely consider an amended ordinance, minus the wording targeting motorcycles and with added enforcement tools, at its next scheduled meeting on June 6.
"We should have everybody's side so if it does go to a vote, we would have all the information that we need," said Vitali.
