Port Hope council will take more time to consider an update to the municipality’s noise bylaw that has been in place since 1996.
Councillor Claire Holloway Wadhwani suggested the deferment, citing allowing more community feedback into the decision along with a larger council decision as Mayor Olena Hankivsky and Deputy Mayor Vicki Mink were both absent from this week’s council meeting.
Municipal Law Enforcement Supervisor Dave Chatwell said this update became a priority when he joined the municipality a year ago and saw the noise bylaw was written almost 30 years ago with some amendments made in 2002.
Chatwell said staff studied noise bylaws in Cobourg, Peterborough, Stouffville, Aurora and more in the GTA as a comparison to Port Hope.
Changes in the proposed update include exemptions for the municipality when conducting infrastructure work.
He also said a number of questions have been received including why noise decibel readings are not included in bylaw.
“The purpose of keeping it out is it would cause extensive training for staff to be able to use the decibel reading and then of course we have to buy it,” Chatwell said. “Most noise violations happen when of course staff are not on shift so that would end up being Port Hope Police who would have to address that, who are not trained.”
Chatwell said complainants are often asked to record the noise themselves and to also keep a noise log, especially for issues that arise when bylaw staff aren’t on working.
“Once we have that evidence we can then move ahead with orders and such,” he said.
The 11 p.m. curfew time is also questioned and Chatwell said that’s standard time for noise bylaws. He also noted they receive more complaints for dogs barking than loud music.
“Noise has not been that big of an issue within the municipality, but the reason why these bylaws are being brought forth is to prep us for growth and get us standardized so that as the municipality grows these are already in place and the community understands that those rules are in place and have to follow them as we grow,” Chatwell said.
Holloway Wadhwani asked about excessive noise that takes place during the allowed period before 11 p.m. if repetitive noise is impacting surrounding residents.
“If there is a persistence noise that’s audible at the point of reception we can go in and we can speak to somebody,” Chatwell said.
Holloway Wadhwani also wondered about venues that seek exemptions for noise that could impact the area and if there is a limit to the amount of exemptions that can be sought.
Chatwell said that wasn’t considered as only one venue has asked for multiple noise exemptions throughout the year.
“We haven’t had any complaints from the individuals surrounding those areas,” he said and noted the department could deny exemption requests if issues arise.
Holloway Wadhwani suggested the motion to defer.
“Just recognizing that as this is a bylaw that’s replacing one that has been in place since 1996, it’s been a really long time since we had a community conversation about this topic, long overdue, and I know I’ve been bombarded with correspondence from neighbours just today really and I know we’ve got correspondence come to us just while we’ve been in this meeting so it does seem like something residents are interested in and would like to be able to provide comment on or ask questions,” she said. “It’s come straight to council which means it bypassed committee-of-the-whole so there was no opportunity for residents to ask questions during a question period and I think there are residents who would’ve liked to provide to do that or to provide comment. And then given the fact that we are in a smaller quorum today where we could be passing a bylaw with as little as three votes in favour, to me it seems like something we should be deferring until we have a fuller complement and where there’s been an opportunity for members of the public to engage with us a little bit more on this before we pass the new bylaw.”
Council supported the deferment to the Nov. 18 council meeting.
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