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Board debates broad noise ordinance, Tannerite blasts and whether to adopt decibel standards
Summary
Supervisors and the sheriff discussed enforcement limits under the county's broad noise ordinance (audible 50 feet from property line), complaints about Tannerite and fireworks, and whether calibrated decibel meters and time-of-day rules should be adopted to reduce subjectivity in enforcement.
Staff reminded the board that Cumberland County’s criminal noise ordinance (Article 5 §34‑150) currently prohibits any noise audible 50 feet from a property line but includes numerous exemptions (public-safety activities, agricultural operations, hunting/shooting and animal noises). Staff said the ordinance’s broad language creates discretionary enforcement and makes prosecutions difficult to sustain.
Sheriff Hodges told the board that officers respond frequently to noise complaints, and while most situations are resolved simply by asking residents to lower volume, some complaints (notably repeated Tannerite explosions and large fireworks) create enforcement and evidence‑collection challenges. He and staff described incidents where large Tannerite charges produced structural damage or produced complaints from distant neighborhoods; they said locating the origin in a long, narrow county is difficult and a calibrated, defensible measurement would help.
Board members questioned whether a rural county should restrict target shooting or other lawful activities and worried about unintended consequences for farming and hunting. Some supervisors argued for a practical, equipment‑based rule (a decibel threshold and calibrated meters) to remove subjectivity; others favored limited, targeted changes and continued reliance on officer judgment for routine complaints. County counsel (Kemper) and staff were asked to research other rural counties’ ordinances, time‑of‑day provisions, calibration/legal defensibility of meters and whether state law (Dillon Rule) limits local authority over shooting and Tannerite.
Next steps: Kemper and the sheriff agreed to draft a potential ordinance revision and return to the board with comparative examples and suggested decibel/time thresholds for workshop review.
