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Council considers tighter noise rules and daytime construction limits after resident complaints of 101 dB vibration
Summary
Staff proposed edits to the city noise ordinance to address daytime construction and loud landscaping equipment; a resident reported backyard readings up to 101 decibels and urged limits on equipment and hours. Council favored an earlier evening cutoff (around 8 p.m.) than the current 10 p.m. daytime end-of-day definition.
City staff told the Georgetown City Council at the Oct. 27 workshop that a surge of recent complaints about daytime construction noise, heavy equipment and landscaping prompted a review of the noise ordinance (Chapter 8.16).
Current standards and proposed change
Staff said the current code sets daytime residential limits at 63 decibels and nighttime at 56 decibels, and that daytime and nighttime are defined in the ordinance as 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. and 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. respectively. Staff noted state law (Chapter 42 of the Texas Penal Code) treats noise above 85 decibels as "unreasonable."
Because daytime construction and…
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