By Michael Copley
Staff Writer

The noise ordinance in Powhatan is legally defunct, unenforceable. The Virginia Supreme Court in May sent local governments scrambling to rewrite noise ordinances when it threw out a conviction on a noise violation in Virginia Beach, ruling that city’s law was too vague.

The law against excessive noise in Powhatan — like the one in Virginia Beach — hinged on the responding officer’s interpretation of what exceeded reasonable levels of noise. 

So the Powhatan Board of Supervisors gave County Attorney John Rick the go-ahead to draft a noise ordinance that can stand up in court. Rick used Chesterfield County’s 2009 noise ordinance as a jumping-off point and said he met with Powhatan’s Sheriff, Greg Neal, and other deputies to craft legislation that will work for Powhatan.

The spectrum of noise ordinances stretches from reasonable interpretation to mechanical monitoring, using meters to measure and identify sounds that are louder than some set standard.

The former was just ruled too vague, but sources said the latter can be a nightmare for law enforcement.
Meters have to be bought, calibrated and operators have to be trained to use the instruments. And in court, a case based on a reading from a noise meter is open to the same pit falls and scrutiny that litter radar gun cases.

Rick’s solution, as it is shaping up, will use objective standards to identify excessive noise.

A future noise ordinance will likely:
Make it illegal to play music from 12:01 a.m. to 7:00 a.m. that can be heard from inside another building, or from a certain distance. Chesterfield County uses 50 feet as its standard, but Rick said that distance is probably too short for Powhatan.

Make it illegal for a gathering of 10 or more people to make noise from 12:01 a.m. to 7:00 a.m. that can be heard from inside another building, or from a set distance.

Make it illegal to allow a dog’s barking to be heard from inside another building, at some set distance from the animal, or at least once a minute for 10 consecutive minutes.

Correction
The writer originally stated County Attorney John Rick used Chesterfield County noise ordinance from 1997 as a starting point. That was reported incorrectly. He used Chesterfield County’s 2009 noise ordinance.

The article also speculated on the objective standards that might be set in the new ordinance.  Based on details of Chesterfield County’s noise ordinance, the writer offered 50 feet as a possible distance at which audible noise would become a nuisance. Rick said that distance was probably too short for Powhatan.