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Following a final round of edits, the Lexington City Council unanimously approved an updated noise ordinance at its meeting last Thursday.
Interim City Attorney Jeremy Carroll presented the newest draft of the ordinance to Council at its meeting on March 16, which had incorporated many previous proposed edits from Council as well as some new language and definitions he added on his own.
The two biggest additions to the ordinance were to codify a definition and procedure for activity permits and creating an exception for some activities on the main campuses of Washington and Lee University and Virginia Military Institute.
Activity permits, or “noise permits” as they have been colloquially known, are a long-standing practice in the city, where individuals who are planning an event within city limits apply for the permit from the Lexington Police Department, which gives the department the name of an individual to contact if there is a complaint.
Such permits were not previously formally codified in the city code, and have been dubbed “activity permits” in the new ordinance to avoid the misconception that they are a permit to violate noise ordinances. Under the new ordinance, anyone that intends to host “an outdoor activity involving the use of sound amplifying equipment or equipment for broadcasting music, human voices or other similar sounds” within the city must obtain an activity permit.
Lexington Police Chief Angela Greene spoke to Council regarding the practice of issuing permits prior to events and explained that it was standard practice if there was a complaint regarding excessive noise, the first step responding officers take is to issue a warning.
“With or without permit, it’s going to be a warning [the first time we’re called],” she said. “It’s always a warning unless there’s something very, very egregious, and I have not heard of such an event that has been so egregious that you don’t at least get a warning first to come into compliance, and usually they’re very lenient before issuing a summons. I’ve been here almost two years there’s only been one time that someone has been given a summons for loud noise.
“As of right now, it does work,” she continued. “It would just be nice, for repeat offenders, to possibly have a little bit more bite to the current ordinance we have, and I think that’s what the city manager and interim city attorney are doing to help us out.”
The definition of main campus that was added to the ordinance covered the portions of the campuses of the universities that are bounded on the southwest by West Nelson Street (from the city’s limits to its intersection with North Jefferson Street) and on the southeast by North Jefferson Street (to its intersection with North Main Street) and North Main Street (to the city’s limits), plus the athletic fields and facilities of the Virginia Military Institute that are situated on the southeast side of North Main Street.
Events including “band performances or practices, athletic contests or practices and other school sponsored activities” that occur within that area are classified as exceptions to the restrictions of the ordinance. Most of W&L’s fraternity houses would not be included in that definition, but Councilman David Sigler pointed out that the Chi Psi fraternity house located at 5 Lee Ave. does fall within that area. The definition of “main campus” was amended to exclude that fraternity house prior to the vote on April 6.
Sigler also reiterated previously raised concerns over classifying the first criminal violation of the noise ordinance as a class 2 misdemeanor, as opposed to a class 4 or class 3 misdemeanor. Penalties for a class 2 misdemeanor can include jail time, while class 3 and 4 misdemeanor violations are punished with fines only. He suggested lowering the first offense to a class 3 misdemeanor to align with Rockbridge County’s noise ordinance. Repeat offenses would result in the charge being increased to a class 2 misdemeanor.
When asked for her opinion, Chief Greene said she was “fine” with having the first criminal offense be a class 3 misdemeanor.
“[A criminal violation] would be so egregious that we would use the decibel meter, and if it’s a situation where there’s a repeat offender, maybe it might get someone’s attention, but it’s an option we could utilize,” she said. “It would not be our first option unless it’s something that egregious, but it’s an option we could utilize.”
Carroll made those changes, as well as some other clarifications to the language of certain sections and definitions of the proposed ordinance before presenting a final version to Council at its April 6 meeting.
