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Staff outline updates to Sandy noise and solicitation codes, propose manager exemption and appeal process
Summary
City staff presented revisions to Sandy’s noise and solicitation chapters that reorganize permitted categories, add exemptions for permitted events and emergency restorations, and create a city‑manager exemption process that can be appealed to council.
City staff presented a package of changes to Sandy’s municipal code aimed at modernizing how the city defines and enforces disturbing, loud and unnecessary noises and at adding a new solicitation code.
Kelly, a city staff member who led the rewrite, told council the changes move noise and solicitation language into chapter 8.20 and align the public‑nuisance references with the recently updated chronic‑nuisance section (8.22.10). He said the draft gives “the city manager more discretion on approving noise exemptions.” “We’ve set it up so that the city manager can approve noise exemptions for excavation and construction and also for musical devices for events,” Kelly added, and that those approvals would be subject to an appeal to council.
Councilors pressed staff to clarify several operational points during discussion. Members questioned whether the code would cover loud vehicle modifications (so‑called “rolling coal”), stand‑alone generators during outages, and how apartment‑complex managers might be held responsible for repeated disturbances. Staff said vehicle noise often is already addressed by applicable Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS) and that retaining parallel municipal language helps officers and prosecutors have an enforcement path when appropriate.
The draft also reorganizes the noise section with headings (animals, vehicles, engines, musical devices) and creates a catch‑all quiet‑hours provision (proposed 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.) to address recurring fan and commercial noise complaints that cross property lines. The council discussed whether to standardize quiet hours across uses (mowers, leaf blowers, recreational play) and whether seasonal or weekday/weekend distinctions would be required.
On amplified sound and live music, staff proposed granting the city manager the authority to issue temporary exemptions for venues and events while encouraging operator outreach to neighbors; councilors suggested a carve‑out for commercial establishments on weekend evenings to avoid pushing small businesses into burdensome permit regimes. Several members asked staff to return with narrower solicitation definitions and more explicit exemptions to avoid constitutional challenges to free‑speech activities.
Next steps: staff said they will refine the drafting items discussed, consult further on language for generator and emergency restoration exemptions, and prepare the ordinance for a public hearing aimed at bringing the code revisions back for adoption in May.
