HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-List-Noise-Complaints
Janice Adelman, Town Clerk
Cindy Katz, Deputy Town Clerk
+1-607-277-4788 | clerkoffice@danby.ny.gov Mary Ann Barr 2021
The Town of Danby, New York
1830 Danby Road, Ithaca, NY 14850
https://danby.ny.gov
2022 List of Summarized Noise Complaints
Date Complaint
28.Apr.2022 “ATV, dirt bikes, people blasting stereos, and constant gunfire”
5.May.2022 “Shotgun blasts”
9.May.2022 “unreasonable noise”
10.May.2022 “unregulated and unreasonable noise” ... “Danby is rural and noise such
as agricultural, chainsaw, target practice/hunting, and ATV’s [sic] is
expected. There should be some guidance however for when a noise
becomes unreasonable. Examples are time of day or night, duration, and
proximity to sleeping areas.”
10.May.2022 “unregulated and unreasonable noise” ... “Danby is rural and noise such
as agricultural, chainsaw, target practice/hunting, and ATV’s [sic] is
expected. There should be some guidance however for when a noise
becomes unreasonable. Examples are time of day or night, duration, and
proximity to sleeping areas.”
11.May.2022 “loud music and screaming and yelling sometimes till 4am”
18.May.2022 “Unregulated and unreasonable noise encroaches on the peaceful
enjoyment of property and can negatively impact property values and
desirability of living in Danby. The goal is not to quash normal rural
noises such as general agricultural noise, landscaping , chainsaw use,
target practice/hunting related noise, or even recreational noises such as
running ATVs etc. However, there are times when certain noises become
unreasonable....”
15.May.2022 “Unregulated and unreasonable noise encroaches on the peaceful
enjoyment of property and can negatively impact property values and
desirability of living in Danby. The goal of this law isn’t to stop people
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from making noise but rather to provide guidance and a remedy fro when
noise becomes unreasonable. Danby is rural and noise such as
agricultural, chainsaw use, target practice/hunting, and ATVs is
expected. However, there are times when certain noises be come
unreasonable....”
16.May.2022 “W have been jolted awake by the booming blasts of gunshots or
fireworks at 11 pm, 2 am, and 7 am, sometimes on a Sunday morning.
Some of these are reverberating booms that sound as loud as canon fire,
others sound like automatic weapons; all are extremely disturbing and
disruptive.”
16.May.2022 “Excessive, unregulated noise can have a profound negative impact on
peaceful enjoyment of property.” ... “In our neighborhood, there have
been two problems with unreasonable noise. One of these has been the
use of extremely loud ATVs. These machines, as we understand it, have
been equipped with exhaust systems that make them far louder than
necessary in order to increase their power and make them faster. The
issue is not ATVs in general (our next door neighbor uses one with a
normal muffler that is never a noise problem), but machines that are so
extremely loud that their roar echos throughout the hills for great
distances and absolutely obliterates the peacefulness of a very large area
of the countryside. They are far, FAR louder than any chainsaw, mower,
tractor, etc. New York State has a law that prohibits exhaust systems of
road vehicles that makes them exce ssively loud. ... We would not
consider it respectful of our neighbors to ever make such an egregiously
loud noise ourselves unless it was something unavoidable and short in
duration. All that said, we would acquiesce to the use of machines like
this if it were limited to short durations and only very occasionally,
especially if the users were to notify the neighbors in the area of their
occasional (annual or semi-annual, maybe?) planned riding event.
Unfortunately, we’ve had times in our neighborhood when this egregious
noise has gone on for hours at a time, day after day, week after week. We
should expect the laws of our town to protect us against this sort of
unregulated violation of our right to peacefully enjoy our property. It
should be noted that the users of the loud ATVs do not even live in the
neighborhood. They own land here, but do not reside here. This is an
example of a factor that can make it difficult to resolve noise problems
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directly with the individuals responsible for the noise. There is not the
same opportunity to develop the relationships one can develop with
one’s actual resident neighbors. The second, similar problem we’ve had
in our neighborhood has involved the repeate d and rapid firing of
firearms for many hours at a time. We all know how loud and jarring the
noise of a firearm is, and how far that noise carries. However, a few shots
from a hunter, or a reasonable number of shots for a reasonable duration
of time by someone doing target practice, are to be expected in a rural
area, and are certainly reasonable. Rapid firing, apparently using a semi -
automatic firearm or several firearms being fired by multiple shooters,
that goes on for hour after hour, clearly crosses t he line from something
that is reasonable into something that is a violation of others’ right to
peacefully enjoy their property.”
17.May.2022 “This ordinance does not preclude the step of opening a dialogue and
seeking compromise between parties. This offers protections for when
those efforts do not work, when someone doesn’t feel safe, or when prior
attempts have resulted in an escalation and more conflict. It does not
prevent anyone from mowing their lawn, cutting firewood, haying and
plowing fields, riding off road vehicles, target shooting, having a party. It
asks for reasonableness in all of these activities. It’s that common
courtesy we show one another by not mowing our lawn at 5AM on a
Sunday morning. We COULD do it, but we don’t because it’s
unreasonable and inconsiderate and infringes on our neighbors rights to
peacefully enjoy their morning.”
17.May.2022 “This is a quality-of-life issue. Excessive noise can make it unpleasant to
be on one’s own property. There may be a right to make noise, but what
we also need is a right to preserve quiet. Put another way, your right to
make noise stops at my eardrums.”
18.May.2022 “Noise is a quality-of-life issue that affects everyone who lives in Danby.
As a resident of Danby for over 20 years, I fully expect to hear farming
noises, gun shots (especially in hunting season), animal noises, etc.
However, there are times when the volume, intensity, duration and
repetition of certain kinds of noise can become unbearable, making it
impossible to peacefully enjoy the beauty of our rural community. In an
ideal world, if and when noise issues arise, neighbors would be able work
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things out without contacting the authorities. In the real world that we
live in, attempts to resolve such issues in a neighbor-to-neighbor dialog
do not always work.”
17.May.2022 “unreasonable noise that prevents [people] from a peaceful enjoyment
of their own property.”
27.Jun.2022 Sunday at 10:25pm loud music playing
12.Jul.2022 ATV/dirt bike enthusiasts with exhaust systems that produce noise
comparable to drag racing or an airport.
18.Sep.2022 loud music playing at 1am for 4-5 hours.