LAKE IN THE HILLS – Anyone causing any "unreasonable noise disturbance" in the village could now be subject to a violation fee, regardless of the decibel level.
The Village Board on Thursday approved an ordinance amending the municipal code's "Noise" section, as part of its omnibus agenda.
The amendment simplifies the ordinance by creating two basic categories of violations, according to village documents. The first is specific decibel level limits for various property zones at certain times and the second is a catchall for any "unreasonable noise disturbance."
Village Administrator Jerry Sagona said it wasn't so much a particular event or complaint that prompted this, but rather an eventual realization that the code was lacking in this area.
He explained that the original code was geared more toward zoning requirements, such as how loud an industrial building's operations could be. Other noises, he explained, might still be disturbing or unnecessary in certain situations, but fall within the decibel level limits.
The documents said, "staff, in recent months, have encountered situations where they had difficulty determining what noise complaints were violations due to ambiguities and, in one case, inconsistent provisions in the current ordinance."
Sagona said that's why the village is trying to expand the ordinance to be more comprehensive.
"More to take the complaints that, not very often, come in," he said. "Now we'll have a mechanism to solve those issues."
While the first category provides staff with objective decibel limitations for assessing a noise level, the second is intended to allow staff more room to issue a citation for certain disturbances, the documents said. They also state, that where possible, staff will still use the objective criteria but will be able to issue a citation even if the noise didn't exceed the decibel level limits.
Citations given for violating this ordinance go to the administrative hearing office, Sagona said. The fee involved would be no less than $150 each day the violation continues.