Aggieland
Sponsored by

Noise Ordinance Question for Cops

16,281 Views | 17 Replies | Last: 2 yr ago by Tim Weaver
Waltonloads08
User Profile
Private Message
Ignore User Stop Ignoring
How long do you want to ignore this user?
24 hours One week Permanently Cancel
12:48p, 1/5/07
AG
i live in Bryan back behind Northgate.

Saturday Night-
a few weeks ago me and my friends at our house were having a ring dunking "party" for one of my friends who had just gotten his ring. everyone arrived (about 15 people total) at around 8:45PM and we remained inside the house drinking, etc. at about 9:50PM we all went into the backyard to let hum dunk his ring at 10. RIGHT at the moment he begins we see through the back door the Maglights being shone into our utility room door from the front.


they were nice guys and did not write us a ticket but informed us that we must break up the party etc. i asked him if he had been called in to come to this address and he responded yes.

now I have to say that i suspect my across-the-street neighbor of making a pre-emptive call to BPD when she saw all the cars parking in front of our house and in front of her house.

my question is, what is considered a reasonable amount of noise to have at a private residence on a saturday night before 10PM in Bryan, Texas?

Reply Quote
nkaechler
User Profile Ignore User Stop Ignoring
How long do you want to ignore this user?
24 hours One week Permanently Cancel
1:08p, 1/5/07
AG
Found this, doesn't say anything about time of day or penalties though:
http://www.municode.com/resources/gateway.asp?pid=14054&sid=43

College Station had good info on their site, but I can't find it yet.
Reply Quote
tlepoC
User Profile
Private Message
Ignore User Stop Ignoring
How long do you want to ignore this user?
24 hours One week Permanently Cancel
8:56p, 1/5/07
AG
CS does not follow the what is listed on their site regarding noise violations. Straight from the mouth of an individual high up in the department.

It is a judgment call....you can get screwed or you can get lucky. Take me for example, no parties and 2 noise violations.
Reply Quote
JPH
User Profile Ignore User Stop Ignoring
How long do you want to ignore this user?
24 hours One week Permanently Cancel
8:56p, 1/5/07
From the College Station site nkaechler mentioned:

Texas Law Violation

A loud party or noise violation falls under the Texas Penal Code Section 42.01 Disorderly Conduct (a)(5): a person commits an offense if he intentionally or knowingly; makes unreasonable noise in a public place other than a sport shooting range, or in or near a private residence that he has no right to occupy. Disorderly Conduct is a Class C Misdemeanor and is punishable by fine up to $ 500.00.

http://www.cstx.gov/home/index.asp?page=491

[This message has been edited by JPH (edited 1/5/2007 8:56p).]
Reply Quote
tlepoC
User Profile
Private Message
Ignore User Stop Ignoring
How long do you want to ignore this user?
24 hours One week Permanently Cancel
9:03p, 1/5/07
AG
Hmmm...looks like that has been updated since I raised hell over it. It used to cite the CS ordinance listing like 85 decibels ....but they did not follow that and instead went by the Texas law which is much more vague and relies on a judgment call.
Reply Quote
nkaechler
User Profile Ignore User Stop Ignoring
How long do you want to ignore this user?
24 hours One week Permanently Cancel
9:58p, 1/5/07
AG
Yeah, there used to be a page that had the decibel limits for certain times of day. I guess some residents got wise and demanded them take a decibel reading. So they might have taken it down. Regardless, the CS website really disorganized and hard to navigate.

I thought about buying decibel reader, but, my parties are never loud and not that often.
Reply Quote
CS Dude
User Profile Ignore User Stop Ignoring
How long do you want to ignore this user?
24 hours One week Permanently Cancel
5:16a, 1/6/07
If it's loud enough to disturb people, it needs to become not loud enough to disturb people. One of those everyone has to live in peace and harmony kind of things. That having been said, it's a Class C ticket. Not a big deal, esp. if your party (or whatever) is that important to you. :-)
Reply Quote
Joe Schillaci 48
User Profile
Private Message
Ignore User Stop Ignoring
How long do you want to ignore this user?
24 hours One week Permanently Cancel
8:37a, 1/6/07
AG
Walton....I have a question....

When your friends arrived at 8:45 were you playing music? Most of the music doesn't travel very far but the bass is the problem. When you are in your house you can't tell but if you are several houses away, all your neighbors can hear is the BOOM BOOM BOOM but no music. It is like Chinese water torture even if it is at 3:00pm. I suggest you adjust your bass. The music may not be as good but it will keep the police away.

And please don't take this as a sexist statement but female members of the party tend to let loose high pitched screams when laughing. That sound also travels long distances.

Perhaps your neighbors are familiar with your M.O. and called early because the "noise patrol" officers get extremely busy after ten.

Probably the officers arrived at the moment you went outside.....bad timing for you.

Another answer is to move back to Walton. However I think you would have similar noise complaints.

Reply Quote
Waltonloads08
User Profile
Private Message
Ignore User Stop Ignoring
How long do you want to ignore this user?
24 hours One week Permanently Cancel
4:47p, 1/6/07
AG
no, no music till about 9:30, and we are aware bass = problems, it isnt our first rodeo


yeah i think it was a more like "those darn kids, im gunna call before its a problem" kinda thing, hence why we didnt get ticketed i guess... i feel like the cops were wondering why they were there by the way they acted... i.e. they let him finish dunking his ring (47 seconds i think), talked with us for awhile etc.
Reply Quote
Waltonloads08
User Profile
Private Message
Ignore User Stop Ignoring
How long do you want to ignore this user?
24 hours One week Permanently Cancel
4:51p, 1/6/07
AG
quote:
If it's loud enough to disturb people, it needs to become not loud enough to disturb people.


this is not really true... when i was a kid we use to play kickball in the street. this middle aged woman who lived nearby use to come yell at us "because her cats were trying to sleep". once she called the cops. needless to say, the cop probably wanted to ticket her for wasteing his time.
Reply Quote
o3
User Profile Ignore User Stop Ignoring
How long do you want to ignore this user?
24 hours One week Permanently Cancel
8:56a, 1/7/07
quote:
If it's loud enough to disturb people, it needs to become not loud enough to disturb people.
Oh really? Any noise or just the ones you don't care for?

What I hate about noise ordinances is how arbitrarily they're applied/enforced.

Can someone explain why Zapatos gets fined for outdoor music and yet the Outdoor Music Series at Wolf Pen Creek can be heard from miles away? Why is it that cops hand out citations for gatherings of 20-30 people at a house yet 80K fans on the TAMU campus can yell at the top of their lungs for 3.5 hours? Why is it a violation to have a radio playing loudly but its okay when the neighbors are using their chainsaw/lawn mower in the morning. How come we allow union pacific to line its pockets with money at the cost of peace and quiet/safety? Same with planes landing...

Why is it that in the Constitution it says you have a right to face your accusers yet when you ask who phoned in to complain about noise the cops refuse to give out that info?

The laws used to regulate noise in the city are ambiguous at best. We need laws that are specific so that we don't have to rely on personal opinions of a select few.



"There are 10 kinds of people in this world: those who understand binary and those who don't."

[This message has been edited by o3 (edited 1/7/2007 8:58a).]
Reply Quote
3
MisterShipWreck
User Profile Ignore User Stop Ignoring
How long do you want to ignore this user?
24 hours One week Permanently Cancel
9:43a, 1/7/07
I've put up w/ noise from neighbors when I lived in duplexes, because I had dogs. I was afraid that if I reported it, they'd do something to my 2 dogs later on. Otherwise, I would not have tolerated it as I did....
Reply Quote
jicisneros
User Profile Ignore User Stop Ignoring
How long do you want to ignore this user?
24 hours One week Permanently Cancel
1:22a, 10/9/22
AG
College Station has separate daytime and night regulations; 63 decibels measured from the property line as the limit between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m., and 55 decibels from 10:01 p.m. to 6:59 a.m. The ordinance makes exceptions for lawnmowers and construction.
Reply Quote
maroon barchetta
User Profile
Private Message
Ignore User Stop Ignoring
How long do you want to ignore this user?
24 hours One week Permanently Cancel
7:24a, 10/9/22
Tim Weaver
User Profile Ignore User Stop Ignoring
How long do you want to ignore this user?
24 hours One week Permanently Cancel
In reply to jicisneros • 9:22a, 10/9/22
jicisneros said:
College Station has separate daytime and night regulations; 63 decibels measured from the property line as the limit between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m., and 55 decibels from 10:01 p.m. to 6:59 a.m. The ordinance makes exceptions for lawnmowers and construction.
If this is true then almost everyone is guilty of breaking the ordinance just by running an air conditioner or starting their car. You could never run a saw or an air compressor.

Part of the problem is that "decibels" is not truly a measurement of noise. You have to assign a weighting and a time limit to it.

65 dBA, slow is a unit of measurement. As is 65 dBC fast. Both of these will be extremely different in "loudness" as we perceive it.
Reply Quote
1
Aggie@state.gov
User Profile
Private Message
Ignore User Stop Ignoring
How long do you want to ignore this user?
24 hours One week Permanently Cancel
8:33p, 10/9/22
AG
that is a hellava 15 year bump of a posting.......
Reply Quote
6
maroon barchetta
User Profile
Private Message
Ignore User Stop Ignoring
How long do you want to ignore this user?
24 hours One week Permanently Cancel
In reply to Aggie@state.gov • 9:11p, 10/9/22
Aggie@state.gov said:
that is a hellava 15 year bump of a posting.......


It's just outta nowhere.
Reply Quote
Tim Weaver
User Profile Ignore User Stop Ignoring
How long do you want to ignore this user?
24 hours One week Permanently Cancel
9:19p, 10/9/22
Yowsers. I didn't even notice!
Reply Quote
Refresh
Page 1 of 1
 
×
subscribe Verify your student status
See Subscription Benefits
Trial only available to users who have never subscribed or participated in a previous trial.