Jan
Fort Worth Considering Changes To City Noise Ordinance
Fort Worth Considering Changes To City Noise Ordinance
A dog barks at passers by. (credit: Odd Andersen/AFP/Getty Images)
FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) – There could soon be more severe consequences and repercussions for noise complaints in the City of Fort Worth.
For the purpose of making enforcement easier, the city is about to rewrite its noise ordinance.
Fort Worth’s deputy director of planning and development, Dana Burghdoff, said the changes include the use of a decibel meter.
“If you’ve got a resident complaining then we would measure the noise from their property line and we would use the residential level at their property line,” explained Burghdoff.
As it stands, some of the biggest problems include, “Bars and restaurants, where there’s loud music or loud patrons and there are complaints from neighbors, and then the second one is animal noise – dogs and roosters to be specific,” Burghdoff said.
The plan is to rewrite a noise ordinance that’s vague and subjective. Current language includes offenses of “unreasonably loud noise”. The change would define specific noise levels that can be measured with a decibel meter.
Burghdoff said having specific parameters would help police and animal control officers. “They would be able to utilize maximum sound levels, in different parts of the city, that would allow them to use a decimal meter to measure the noise level.”
Proposed changes to the ordinance could also include a time limit of 10 minutes on how long your neighbor’s dog can bark before your neighbor is issued a citation.
The public meeting, to discuss the proposed noise ordinance changes, begins at 6:30 p.m. at the Botanic Garden Center, located at 3220 Botanic Garden Blvd
