Ordinance - 1251ORDINANCE NO. 1251
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
WEST COVINA ADDING CHAPTER 6 TO ARTICLE IV OF
THE WEST COVINA MUNICIPAL CODE, RELATING TO NOISE,
AND DECLARING THE URGENCY HEREOF, TO TAKE EFFECT
IMMEDIATELY
The City Council of the City of West Covina does ordain
as follows:
SECTION 1. Chapter 6 is added to Article IV of the West
Covina Municipal Code to read as follows:
CHAPTER 6. NOISE REGULATIONS
Part 1. General Provisions.
4600. DECLARATION OF POLICY.
It is the policy of the City in its exercise
of police power, to prohibit unnecessary, excessive,
and annoying noise levels from all sources. At certain
levels noises are detrimental to the health and welfare
of the citizenry and in the public interest shall be
systematically proscribed.
Part 2. Special Noise Sources.
4610. RADIOS, TELEVISION SETS, AND SIMILAR
DEVICES.
(a) Use restricted. Between the hours
of 10:00 p.m. of one day and 7:00 a.m. of the following
day, it shall be unlawful for any person within any
residential zone of the City to use or operate any radio
receiving set, musical instrument, phonograph, television
set, or other machine or device for the producing or
reproducing of sound or any device by which voice, music,
or any other sound is amplified, in such a manner as to
create any noise which causes the noise level at the
property line of any property (or if a condominium or
apartment house, within any adjoining unit or apartment)
to exceed the ambient noise level by more than five (5)
decibels.
4611. CONSTRUCTION AND BUILDING PROJECTS.
(a.) Regulation. Between the hours of
8:00 p.m. of one day and 7:00 a.m, of the next day, it
shall be unlawful for any person within a residential zone,
or within a radius of 500 feet therefrom, to operate
equipment or perform any outside construction or repair
work on buildings, structures, or projects or to operate
any pile driver, steam shovel, pneumatic hammer, derrick,
steam or electric hoist, or other construction type device
in such manner as to create any noise which causes the
noise level at the property line to exceed the ambient
noise level by more than five (5) decibels unless a permit
therefor has been duly obtained in accordance with
subparagraph (b) of this section. No permit shall
be required to perform emergency work as defined in Part 3
of this chapter.
(b) Permit Procedure. A permit may
be issued authorizing noises prohibited by this section
whenever it is found that the public.interest will be
served thereby. Applications for permits shall be in
writing, shall be accompanied by an application fee in
the amount of Five Dollars ($5.00), and shall set forth
in detail facts showing that the public interest will be
served by the issuance of such permit. Applications
shall be made to the Building Director, provided, however,
with respect to work upon or involving the use of a public
street, alley, building, or other public place under the
jurisdiction of the Engineering Department, applications
shall be made to the City Engineer. Anyone dissatisfied
with the denial of a permit may appeal to the Council.
4612. VEHICLE OPERATION AND REPAIRS.
It shall be unlawful for any person within any residential
area of the City to repair, rebuild, or test any motor
vehicle upon private property, in such manner as to create
any noise which causes the noise level at the property
line to exceed the ambient noise level by more than five
(5) decibels.
Part 3. Definitions.
4615. DEFINITIONS.
Unless the context otherwise clearly indicates, the
words and phrases used in this chapter are defined as
follows:
(a) Decibel Measurement Criteria. Any
decibel measurement made pursuant to the provisions of
this chapter shall be based on a reference sound pressure
of 0.0002 microbars as measured in any octave band with
center frequency, in cycles per second, as follows:
63, 125, 250, 500, 1,000, 2,000, 4,000, and 8,000 and
for the combined frequency bands (ALL PASS).
(b) Sound Amplifying Equipment. "Sound
amplifying equipment means any machine or device for
the amplification of the human voice, music, or any other
sound, or by which the human voice, music or any other
sound is amplified. "Sound amplifying equipment", as
used in this chapter, does not include warning devices on
authorized emergency vehicles or horns or other warning
devices on any vehicle used only for traffic safety.
(c) Emergency Work•. "Emergency work"
means work made necessary to restore property to a safe
condition following a public calamity or work required to
protect persons or property from an imminent exposure to
danger to the public health and safety.
(d) Ambient Noise. "Ambient noise" means the all -
encompassing noise associated with a given environment, usually
being a composite of sounds with many sources near and far.
(e) Decibel. "Decibel" (db) means a unit
of level which denotes —the ratio between two quantities
which are proportional to power; the number of decibels
corresponding to the ratio of two amounts of power is ten
times the logarithm to the base ten of this ratio.
(f) Motor Vehicles. "Motor vehicles"
include, but is not limited to, mini -bikes and go-carts.
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SECTION 2. This ordinance is necessary for the protection
of the public peace, health and safety and shall be effective immediately
upon its adoption.
The facts constituting the necessity are as follows:
At certain levels noises are detrimental to the
health and welfare of the citizenry. Certain construction
activities proposed to be carried on in the immediate
vicinity of residential areas of the City pose an immediate
threat to the health and welfare of the persons residing
in those areas. In order to protect the health and welfare
of all such persons it is necessary that this ordinance be
effective immediately upon its adoption.
SECTION 3. This ordinance shall cease to be effective
for any purpose at the same time that Ordinance No. 1250 becomes effective.
SECTION 4. The City Clerk shall certify to the passage -
of this ordinance and shall cause the same to be published as required
by law.
Passed and approved this 8th day of July, 1974.
ATTEST:
/ City C16rk.-
STATE OF CALIFORNIA
COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES SS.
CITY OF WEST COVINA
I,..:LELA W. PRESTON, City Clerk of the City of West Covina,
do hereby certify that the foregoing Ordinance No. 1251 was regularly
introduced, placed upon its first and second readings and was duly
adopted and passed at a regular meeting of the City Council on the 8th
day of July, 1974, by the following vote, to wit:
AYES: Councilmen: Browne, Lloyd, Chappell, Young.
NOES: Councilmen: None
ABSENT: Councilmen: None
ABSTAINED: Councilman Shearer.
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
/-C-Itk Attorney
City Clerk
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