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Home My WebLink AboutGPA 32; NOISE ELEMENT; Planning CommissionY~c9\ _ ""-~--...;...-------------..;;;..;....-How to reduce Maximum permissible "pise levels from stationary sources* Source classificatiqn** On effective date of chapter Two years from effective date .To 35 mph Above 35 mph . To 35 mph Above $5 mph Moforcycle . 82 dBA 86 dBA 80 dBA 84dBA Mobile sources with a gross weight l$sS than 10,000 Ibs Mobile sources with a gross weight more than 10,000 Ibs 76dBA 84dBA 84dBA 70dBA 79 dBA 90dBA Maximum permissible noise levels from stationary sources* Zoning district Time of classification' enforcement CM M .All .. Continuous noise (dBA) 70 \f£D ~lG Impulsive noise (dB) 120 Continuous octave ban d Center frequency (Hz) 31.5 63 125 250 500 1000 20.00 4000 8000 31.5 84 79 74 68 62 5.7 53 '50 C CoO ~R\..SS~O affment 1.00 63 125 250 80 79 74 69 63 57 52 48 45 R RA S-3A R RA S-3A Day Night **Measured at property line CM· = commercial-manufacturing M = manufacturing C '" commercial CoO = commercial-office e~ .. .60 55 where union personnel collect refuse from one and two-family dwellings. As a matter of policy, we decided that abatement requirements should be the same for both public and commercial sectors. In the future, the county hopes to work through industry organizations to achieve solutions or obtain exemp- tion requests. Transportation noise abatement has 500 1'000 2000 4000 8000 31.5 63 125 95 250 500 1000 2000 , 4000 8000 31.5 63 125 90 '250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000 - R = residential RA = residential-apartment S-3A '" special (libraries, schools, parks) 75 74 69 64 58 5.2 47 43 40 70 69 64 59 '53 47 42 38 35 not been directly attacked because of federal premptions related to interstate commerce, the magnitude of personnel requirements, and lack of a suitable site. First year experiences showed that many people are needed to fully im- plement a successful noise control program. But already, some abatement has been achieved. __ 76 THE AMERICAN CITY & COUNTY: September 1976 noise levels without ordinances By Dr. DAVID C. WOOTEN, Vice- President Professional Services En- virodyne's Olson Laboratories Inc., Anaheim, Calif. _ For some com- munities, passing a noise control ordi- nance can be a time-consuming pro- cess, and a major expense. Research by our firm in 15 cities and two counties indicates that it is possible to reduce noise significantly merely by stepping up enforeement of existing codes and ordinances. Our study in Santa Monica, Calif. for example, revealed many short term solutions that could help improve the environment without a large expense by enforcing laws already on the books: .. Limit use of horns, bells and sirens to emergencies only. _ Restrict the noise level generated by heavy construction equipment by re- quiring the use of adequate exhaust and intake mufflers. -Require that such equipment be op- erated within a sound-proof enclosure where possible. I!I Require placement of temporary sound barriers at construction sites. _ Require that stationary noise gen- erating equipment be housed in sound-attenuating enclosures. _ Adopt and enforce bus and truck routes. _ Further synchronize traffic lights to improve vehicle flow and reduce un- necessary stop-and-go traffic. These measures could be acted on immediately. Other suggestions would take more time to implement because they interrelate with other community issues. They include: _ Require that new buildings, particu-1 larly in high noise areas such as air- ports, and freeways, be better sound- proofed using noise-absorbent material and special construction techniques. -Consider buying quieter, possibly electric-powered buses. The Environmental Protection Agency has set a level of 55 Ldn (day- night average sound level) as the guideline for outside noise levels in a residential area. In our research, we found that almost without exception . urban and suburban areas examined exceed this level. Most ranged in the mid to upper 60's -far above "ac- ceptable." Since noise is measured in decibels on a logarithmic scale, this is much noisier than it might appear, be- cause sound energy is doubled with every increase of 3 dB. For example, normal conversation registers about 55 dB. A vacuum cleaner registers at 70 dB, and a jet taking off at 118 dB. Effective noise abatement will succeed with coordinated efforts among all gov- erning bodies. -- How one urban county fights noise pollution Equipped with sound level meters,county noise inspectors work with offenders to set compliance schedules for noise level abatement By JqHNA. HILCKEN;*!lNDil3e abate- . ment in a CDunty Df 165,000 pe6ple is nDt sDmething that happens Dve1;'hight. Yet equipPed with an' effective nDise control Drdinance and inspectDrs, Ar- lingtDn CDunty, Va., acrDSS the PDtDmac River frDm WashingtDn, D.C., plans to. reduce nDise levels fDr area residents. The county's anti-nDise campaign started iIi 1992, when an irate citizen appeared: befDre theCDunty: Boar¢l to. prDtest ea,rly mDrning nDis~ frDm trash cDllectiDn and highway trucks. -There was a 1941 nDise Drdinance Dn thebDDks at the time, but-it lacked teeth fDr cDmpulsDry cDmpliance. The DId Dtdinance was ShDrt and general. It prohibited· disturbing and utrrecessary , nDises "as may be reasonably ca'IClll- lated to' disturb the peace and gDDd Dr¢ler Df the neighbDrhDDd Dr to' injure the health of the inhabitants." As a result Df the cDmplaintabDut garbage truck nDise, the CDunty BDard established a cDmmittee, with Dne member an' aCDustical engineer, to. amend the' Drdinance and.make it mDre, meaningful. After studying existing Drdinances in Dther cDmmunities; the comtriittee re- leased a draft Drdinance a YElar later in 1973. Exterrsive refinEilments, with input frDm the public, the Office Df NDise Abatement and CDntrDI, the County AttDr~ey apd staff, led to. pas- ,sag~ Dfthe new law, which became ef- fective Jan. 1,1975.** The cDunty apprDpriated$80,000 per 'year fDr a Dne-time purchase Df in- strumentatiDn and training Df selected pDlice Dfficers and fDr a st~ff Df two. technical emplDyees and a part-time clerical wDrker to. implement and Dper- ateenfDrcement, prDcedures. The Drdinance is similar to. the U.S. EnvirDnmental PrDtectiDn Agency's MDdel CDmmunity NDise CDntrDl Ordi- nance Df September 1975. But it is mucn less detailed with respect to. specific ,SDurces, and has no. ,prDvi13iDn fDr nuisance. ZDning classificatiDn de- termines permitted nDise levels, and *Mr. Hilcken was formerly E).1vironment~1 Engineer for Arlington County, Va. **Copies of new 1975 Noise Ordinance are available from THE AMERICAN CITY & COUNTY. --. ~~,;:..~ .'1"""', • ."" 1·,< \,' ~>,/. " 'I !'.: .. \\ ...... // ~;~~:14 I . '/ : . ~~~: /', II' .?~jr,/_;,-:/Jl-\\ ,,""' , (. ~ , Noise levels are established for different ZDn-ing classes and time of day. " ' pDlice resDurcesare made available to. assist in enforcement. Written notice. When a violatiDn is re- pDrted, written nDtice is delivered in person, mailed or pDsted near the preIp.- ises whe:r:e the nqise' disturb~nce oc- c~rred. NDise sources which are in ViD- latiDn of the Drdinance are subject to. a cDmpliance schedule approved by the cDunty Ip.anager. If the viDlation is not cDrrected Dn schedule, the cDunty may refer the vio- lation to. the cDmmonwealth attorney, take the matter to court, or e;x:tend the time for compliance. ' , AnYDne respDnsible for a noil3El SourcE) may apply for an exemptiori or ,a partial exemptiDn from the provisions of the ordinanc.e, by providing documented reasons for the exemption to the county manager. 'UpDn convictiDn Df a violation, defen- dants may ,be :fined a minimum Df$~5 up to a m~ximUill'9f $1000; iqlpr-isoned in the county jail for up to. 30 days, or ,bDth. ' Common complaints. Complaints are received by both the police and inspec- tion services departments. Each month, the police receive approxi- mately 250 complaints of disorderly conquct invDlving noise, 50 complaints of nDisy animals and 15 mi~celianeous noise complaints. These are investi- gated almost immediately and are nDt repDrted to the engineer unless a notice of violation is given, when abatement actions must take place during normal business hours, or when readings are made at the engineer's request. During the first year, 286 complaints were recorded in, the Inspection Ser- vices De,partmerit. Anonymous com- plaints are usua'lly not recorded, nor are those which are obviously not vio- lations. Repeated and multiple com- plaints of noise from an unabated source are also unrecorded. Using this method, the distribution and number Df offending noise SDurces Dver and abDve the usual fl'!-ctors is better Dbtained, and accurate totals can be maintaiNed by category. This method helps priDritize efforts· toward a,batement which will benefit the great~st number Df citizens, rather than concentrating on a few areas with repeated complaints. The largest categories of recorded complaints have been: • Barking dogs -56%. • ConstruGtion-17%. Ii Refuse' collection "-7%. • Air conditioners -5%. • Traffic -2%. • MiscellaneDus -2%. Abatement of noise from barking dogs is usua:ny handled by working with the owner to try to solve the prob- lem. Often this works without ,the use of sound level meters. We have been successful in many' ca,ses merely by ma:king owners aware of their thoughtlessness. Should this method fail, a notice of violation is given if measurements on the complainant's property indicate a viol,ation. Most complaints Df construction noise have originated fn residential neighborhoods near subway (the Washington Me,tro) construction sites. While sound pressure levels up to. 94 dBA are permitted by the ordinance during weekdays, all feasible proce- dures must be taken to minimize emis- sions. Poor :mahitenanC;:j!. Compl'aints oIcool- ing tower noise required using sound level meters in ali cases. Notices ofvio- lations are issued when maximum levels are exceeded, since most cooling towers are used by high rise apart- ments and other commer~ial estab- lishments. Often poor maintenance is the cause of the violation. In two cases han<;lled so far, replacement Dr enclo- sure was, required. For this work, own- ers or operators are required to' hire the necessary mechanical Dr engineer- ing personnel to bring the equipment into conformance. Abatement of noise from refuse col- lection poses several problems, includ- ing the well-known ones of nDise frDm operation of the vehicle, loading and compacting noise, shouted directions, hours of operation, and locations in or near residential areas. This situation is further complicated in Arlington, THE AMERICAN CITY & COUNTY: September 1976 75 ..........-• :~ , .. ~ \. \ I • I ( . i , ! • ,\ acceleration deceleration e point point ~ , ----__ I = ::-: 1 I _._ \~: ~: = ::: _:: :--=~ : :: : u_:: eet i ;V ... ""'" v 1 <-.,I .......... 1 50 feet 50 ~eet .' 50 feet :. \ 1. J. second . i ~ ;: . I i> constant 30 mph : i)" ¥ \ \ . , e " , ..... .. \ \ '\ ... zone .J-l (!) (!) Cr; I.) U\ MicrOphOne ..... TOTAL U,~jGTH OF TRACK MUST Bj~ AT LE!AST 300 feet \ I I ,/ . i \ i ! I I \ , i :, I ;! , i !/ './ : ./ I 1 J i ! - _1 ! There should be no reflecting surfaces within the dotted' line other than the test vehicle ~ / .. I,;' " ! ",. ..... I .-/, r If-(].J 0""0 0 O)U N S .. : 0 0 (V) .j-.) .j-.) LC'» etS ~ a ""0 Ul C C -etS 0 :::E • ,... Q- .j-.).,... Ur- (].JetS V') U til C 0 . ,... .j-.) etS r-(].J 0:: til <lJ r-C etS·,... .j-.) ,.... c<lJ (].J""O ~E.-s..C::::l os..Ul tIl(].J e .,... > C >OetS -0 01r- c:(s..o.. (].J .j-.) ,.... CetS ...... s.. <lJ CC O<lJ Ul r-.,... U C ::::l a u I COMPARISON OF STATE REQUIREMENTS FOR NOISE ELEMENT AND CITY OF CARLSBAD DRAFT ELEMENT STATE U I.REMENTS Noise contours measured down to 65 dB(A) for all existing and proposed major transportation facilities, including highways and airports. Noise contours measured down to 45 dB(A) for major trans portation facilities adjacent to hospitals, rest homes, outdoor recreation areas, etc. onclusions regarding appropriate route or site selec- tion alternatives or noise impact upon compatible land uses. General policy statements regarding nOIse and noise sources . Desired maximum noise levels by land use categories. Standards and criteria for fixed point noise sources. Standards and criteria for noise emissions from trans- portation facilities. Implementation Guide. Appendix describing methodology and sources of data. CARLSBAD NOISE ELEMENT Contours for Palomar Airport, the AT&SF RR, 1-5, Hwy. 78, Palomar Airport Road, and El Camino Real provided. Only parks on Pio Pico possibly affected; contour data down to 45 dB(A) not available . Evaluation, policies, and guidelines sections . Contained in goal and policies sections. Guidelines section. Guidelines, evaluation of noise generators and general policies sections. Guidelines, transportation noise policies. Action plan. Appendices section. III e e