(Credit: Steve Thurston, 2023)
Glens Falls head of the Department of Public Works, Tom Girard, left, and Justin Reckner the city's code enforcement officer, listen during a recent Buildings and Codes committee meeting.
Glens Falls will update its noise ordinance in the coming year to move beyond the current language which focuses only on loud car radios and the noise that garbage trucks make. Ward 3 Councilor Diana Palmer mentioned this under new business at the Common Council meeting Tuesday Feb. 28, but she had initiated the discussion in the Buildings and Codes committee meeting earlier in the week.
Palmer said she saw a possible revision in a similar vein as the light ordinance that the city updated last year. The city had to consider how light was measured and what was considered a “nuisance.”
[Read more about the debate over the lights, here.]
At the committee meeting, Palmer said of any changes to the noise ordinance "has to be measurable and objective."
The ordinance has come to the fore at least partially because Ken Pagels and one or more of his tenants has been vocal on the issue.
He owns a three-unit apartment building at 203 Maple St. next door to North Country Snow and Ice Management at 207 Maple St.
Pagels has appeared before the city council at least once, and again appeared at the B&C committee meeting. He was joined by one tenant, Brenda Tracey, a nurse.
They contend that the snowplow company makes a lot of noise day and night, keeping Tracey from sleep. Pagels said one tenant has already moved out due to the noise.
“I’m a nurse. I have been up since 4:30 in the morning. I’m a bit ticked,” Tracey told the committee during the afternoon meeting.
Although this issue encouraged the city to look at changes to the ordinance, there is likely little to be done in this particular instance. The plowing company has a special use permit on the property that allows them to operate, and noise is part of the operation. Also, the parcel is zoned for light industrial activity.
Pagels said that discussions with the owners have not been fruitful.
Yvonne Petro, the office manager of North Country Snow and Ice Management, said that her company follows the rules set out in their special use permit, granted by the city. The company loads salt trucks on the property, often in the wee hours of the morning. Petro said the trucks do make the beeping sound when in reverse, and the salt loader makes noise.
Justin Reckner, the city’s code enforcement officer, told the committee he would look at the special use permit and the State Environmental Quality Review form to make sure that the plowing company is following the rules agreed to when their permit was approved. There is little to be done if the company is following the rules, a few on the committee said.
Petro said the company has property on Big Bay Road in Queensbury, and that eventually the salt loading will move there and operations at 207 Maple St. will be quieter.
The committee agreed to look at possible revisions this year.
“Where we [the committee] left that is we’re going to start pulling some ordinances from other communities that we like and kind of start there,” Palmer related to the Common Council.
[Stay up-to-date with a subscription to our twice-daily emails! We have a free and a premium option. Buying for your office? Take advantage of our group rate here.]
Noise restrictions appear in the Glens Falls city code in a few locations, and they do not handle the vast majority of potential noise problems, meaning the city has little leverage against a chronic noise maker.
One regulation, as part of the rules governing auto service stations, requires that owners not allow “racing of motors, testing of engines” or other activities that would offend property owners adjacent to the service station.
Another law limits the noise animals can make, and says simply that the owners may not keep animals that “disturb the peace by loud noises any time of day or night.”
However the city is concerned with Chapter 45, the “City of Glens Falls Noise Control Law.”
Under that law, “The following noise shall be prohibited: refuse compacting; the operation of a refuse-compacting vehicle in the process of compacting or collecting refuse contained in a dumpster or similar receptacle between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.” It also covers other portions of the garbage collection process.
Another section of the same law says that people may not play a car radio “at sound levels which may be heard at a distance of 150 feet away from the vehicle.”
The B&C committee meeting largely focused on the committee’s year-long agenda and projects where it will focus. Along with the noise ordinance, the committee is updating the permitting process, with a plan to announce that officially in May. May is building safety month according to the International Code Council.
As well, the committee will continue to look at the regulations regarding snow removal from sidewalks and how to get repeat non-shovelers to comply. That discussion and revision of policies will likely be ready for next winter, not this one, the committee agreed.
They will also consider rules regarding rental properties, short-term rentals, absentee landlords and related activities.