New Shoreham council orders work session after weeks of noise readings show measurement and enforcement gaps

New Shoreham officials on July 16 directed staff to hold a work session to review the town's noise ordinance after police and staff presented new decibel measurements and raised questions about how the town calculates violations.

The issue reached the council after Paul (staff member) described taking calibrated noise-meter readings in Bridgegate Square and other locations and explained technical differences between A-weighted and C-weighted measurements. He told council members that "the A scale is used to measure sound because that is what most closely mimics human hearing," and that C-weighted readings, which emphasize bass, produced higher numbers in some locations.

The council's decision follows months of complaints from residents about loud outdoor music and other sources. Paul reported neighborhood "residual" C-scale readings ranging roughly from the high 60s into the 80s at some times, and C-scale readings during live outdoor music that reached the low 80s to high 80s at certain locations, numbers council members said may exceed the town's current 70-decibel limit depending on measurement method and correction factors.

Why it matters: Town officials said the way the ordinance is written now may make legal enforcement difficult. Under the existing language, an enforcement reading must be taken at the property line of the person complaining, and the ordinance includes a 5-decibel correction only for "pure tones," which staff said is intended to address steady mechanical droning (such as a transformer) rather than music. Paul and others said the municipality needs clearer rules that allow officers or inspectors to separate ambient neighborhood noise from a licensed establishment's contribution.

What the council directed: Councilors asked staff, the police department and town counsel to assemble a plan and additional data for a work session. That plan should include: more calibrated readings at multiple locations across town, a legal review by Town Attorney James of possible ordinance amendments, and options for an expert sound consultant (several speakers suggested contacting a sound engineer or academic such as the URI acoustics expert mentioned in the meeting). Town Manager Amy and police staff were told to schedule the work session and return with draft language and sample measurement protocols.

Council members and staff repeatedly emphasized the practical enforcement challenge: if neighborhood residual noise already approaches or exceeds the numeric decibel limit on the C scale, it becomes difficult to point to a single licensee and prove a violation under the current metric and procedure. Several councilors asked for samples of prior readings and a short primer on A vs. C weighting and how correction factors (including the ordinance's 5-decibel adjustment for pure tones) are applied in practice.

What staff said: Paul said his recent training and certification included a practical session comparing ordinances and measurement methods used by other jurisdictions, and he recommended that New Shoreham's ordinance be revised to mirror accepted measurement procedures that account for neighborhood residual levels and provide a consistent method for correcting ambient sound.

Next steps and context: Councilors voted to put the matter on a future work session agenda to "pull the ordinance apart" with town counsel and police staff, collect additional acoustic data across the island, and return with draft revisions or options. Several members asked staff to provide public-facing material summarizing how measurements are taken and what residents can expect when they file complaints.

Ending: The council did not adopt ordinance changes at the meeting; members said they want more data, a legal review, and possible outside technical assistance before making rule changes.