East Lyme to Hold Public Hearing on Proposed Noise Ordinance

Most people try to be good neighbors but a few residents in East Lyme say that noisy neighbors are making their life hell.

Complaints range from All-Terrain Vehicles tearing around swamps to persistent high-pitched whining sounds coming from commercial enterprises. Finally at their wits' end, a couple of local residents have been lobbying hard for the East Lyme Board of Selectmen to pass a noise ordinance.

"It's gotten to the point I hate where I live," said one man who finds the noise from generators over at Bridebrook intolerable. "If that ordinance had been in place, the law would be on my side."

The issue has been on the East Lyme Board of Selectmen's agenda for months now. At this point, there's a general consensus among board members that the East Lyme Police Department would probably benefit from having a decibel meter to measure noise levels when they're called to investigate noise complaints.

But although about 70 other municipalities have enacted noise ordinances, there's been much debate among the selectmen over whether the town's existing ordinances and state statutes are sufficient to deal with the problem. 

Finally, the board decided it was time for local residents to weigh-in on the matter. The East Lyme Board of Selectmen voted last night to schedule a public hearing on a proposed noise ordinance for March 6 at 7 p.m. at East Lyme Town Hall.

The board will need to take $7,000 from the contingency fund to cover the cost of publishing the required legal notice, along with the seven-page long proposed ordinance drafted by the town's attorneys. For the people who have been pushing for the ordinance, however, it seems a small price to pay for a little peace and quiet.  

You don't have to wait that long to find out what the ordinance says, however. You'll find it posted here (at no cost) attached as a PDF.