Neighbors,

Have we as a neighborhood given up on ever having a quiet afternoon on

Hey Dan, Dan, Typically, I would agree with you but we live in a very litigious society, and therefore wisdom and common sense no longer apply. (I know that sounds cynical, but unfortunately true.) We have cases where the defendant cited has requested a doctor's examination and certified report to determine if an officer has a hearing problem. They have also challenged the distances...so we use sound meters because the distances and decibel levels are calibrated by the device. I know we would all love a quick solution to this problem and other quality of life issues, but I believe by starting to address everyone's concern now, we should experience results before summer. RaShall M. Brackney, Commander Zone Five Station Penn Circle West and Ansley Pittsburgh, Pa. 15206 (412) 665-3605 -----Original Message----- From: Sweeney, Dan [mailto:Dan.Sweeney@dynavoxtech.com] Sent: Friday, April 15, 2005 10:49 AM To: Brackney, Rashall; Nga Nguyen Cc: neighborhood@highlandpark.pgh.pa.us Subject: RE: [Highland Park] Outrageous noise from car radios Commander Brackney, Thank you for the quick response and encouraging remarks. As I've written to you privately in the past, your presence in this forum adds muscle to the chatter and hope for change. I'll take the chance of being bold and point out an essential detail in the ordinance. Someone is breaking the law when their car radio is "... plainly audible to an officer at a distance of seventy-five (75) feet from the source of the noise." This is the wisdom of the ordinance and I congratulate the common sense of the person who wrote it: no decibel meter is needed. You only need a tape measure - and at least one working ear. And I agree with you that it's not feasible to post an officer at one corner if all you intend to do is cite a few people. But I hope we can accomplish something a little grander by making a big splash that educates many instead of merely punishing a few. Thanks again for joining in the discussion. Dan Sweeney -----Original Message----- From: Brackney, Rashall [mailto:Rashall.Brackney@city.pittsburgh.pa.us] Sent: Friday, April 15, 2005 10:39 AM To: Nga Nguyen; Sweeney, Dan Cc: neighborhood@highlandpark.pgh.pa.us Subject: RE: [Highland Park] Outrageous noise from car radios Good Morning, Indeed, I have been reading and tracking the emails regarding noise in and around the Highland Park area. First, Dan is correct in citing the below City ordinance. I also followed up with a phone call to Parks and Recreation regarding the shelter permits in Highland Park, and all permits holders must conform with the below ordinance, the only exception being if they have a permit for a deejay. In order to ensure compliance, I have posted of the park permits issued at our front desk, so the officers can verify compliance. Second, Zone 5 has two sound meters in our inventory, but there is a snafu (hey, I work for a governmental agency, so it's not perfect.) I found that only one officer was trained in the device, and he no longer works at Zone 5. I will contact the Training Academy to rectify this situation ASAP. Finally, not sure about the feasibility of posting an officer in one location, but I have reminded each of our officers about the ordinance, so that we can remind citizens of their responsibilities, until the training is complete. Hope that helps...I definitely want everyone to be able to sit on their porches, enjoying the weather and their neighbors. RaShall M. Brackney, Commander Zone Five Station Penn Circle West and Ansley Pittsburgh, Pa. 15206 (412) 665-3605 -----Original Message----- From: neighborhood-bounces@highlandpark.pgh.pa.us [mailto:neighborhood-bounces@highlandpark.pgh.pa.us] On Behalf Of Nga Nguyen Sent: Wednesday, April 13, 2005 6:52 PM To: Sweeney, Dan Cc: neighborhood@highlandpark.pgh.pa.us Subject: Re: [Highland Park] Outrageous noise from car radios hi everyone, my name is nga and i live on winteron street. my partner and i just bought a home in the area a year ago and we love the neighborhood, except for the music in the summertime coming from the park. on most weekend summer days last year, we could hear music emenating from the park from our back yard, from the front of our house, and even inside our house (with the windows closed!). some days the walls in our house would shake from the noise, and the thump thump thump would drive us crazy and make it hard for us to concentrate on our work. the first time it happened, we got in our car and drove around trying to find the source of the noise. after half an hour's search, we found the source of the noise, groups of pepole having bbq parties in the park, each group blasting music off of their own radio/stereo systems for all to hear. i come from nyc, where noise pollution is considered a serious offense, but we didnt know if this was something that the community dealt with here. if there was some constructive way that we could approach the community of noisemakers and make them aware of the aggravation they are causing the rest of us, i'm all for it. however, i feel that in a matter as sensitive as this, it might make more sense if we somehow invoked the law, rather than taking justice into our own hands and (risking injury to ourselves) go up to people and ask them to turn their radios down on an individual basis. if anyone has any advice for what we could do to deal with this issue, i'm all ears. perhaps if we hear music for an extended period of time (say more than half and an hour or more), we should try and identify the source of the noise, and then call the police and report an instance of noise pollution, telling them as much as we know about the source of the noise. i would like to be able to sit and read in my backyard this summer, or be able to take my dog for a walk around the neighborhood, unaccompanied by the incessant droning of other peoples' music. thanks for listening, nga On 4/13/05, Sweeney, Dan <Dan.Sweeney@dynavoxtech.com> wrote: the porch again? Every person reading this has felt their chest reverberate with the sound waves from a passing car's radio. I'm sick of it and would like to propose a way to reclaim a reasonable amount of peace and quiet.

When I've brought this up with the mayor's office or our councilman's

office, the reply has been, "How are we supposed to catch them?" Having thought about that, I've realized the problem is not to _catch_ everyone, the problem is to _educate_ everyone: educate them to the fact that it is illegal; educate them to the fact that the fine is $150 for the first offense; educate them to the fact that people do get caught.

We solved a similar problem last year at this time with the outbreak

of the little scooters. They seemed to be everywhere, until two things happened. First, our police began to write tickets, and second, the TV news did stories on those tickets. It seemed to me that number of scooters dropped to almost zero in a week. Why can't we use the same strategy for the car radios?

I just looked up the relevant law on the CODE OF ORDINANCES City of

PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA website (link given below)

601.04(e) Amplified noise from vehicles or handheld devices. (1) No person shall transmit noise from a vehicle being operated

on a public street, or alley, or in commercial or residential parking facilities, by playing any radio, tape player, compact disc player, loudspeaker, or other electronic device used for the amplification of music or other entertainment, which is plainly audible to an officer at a distance of seventy-five (75) feet from the source of the noise.

and, later,

601.04(i) Penalties. (1) Any person violating any provision of this section, unless

(2) Violation of section 601.04(e)(1) shall result in the mandatory fine of one hundred fifty dollars ($150.00) for a first time violation and a mandatory three hundred dollar ($300.00) fine and booting of a vehicle for the second offense. Booting of the vehicle shall occur if the fine from the first violation is outstanding. The owner of the vehicle shall be responsible for all costs associated with

otherwise specified in this section, shall be fined not more than three hundred dollars ($300.00) and costs for each offense, and in default of payment thereof may be imprisoned for not more than thirty (30) days. the booting.

Link:

http://library8.municode.com/gateway.dll/PA/pennsylvania/227?f=templates &fn=default.htm&npusername=13525&nppassword=MCC&npac_credentialspresent= true&vid=default

I know that Commander Brackney has monitored this list in the past and

been very helpful. Commander, can I ask that you post one officer at the corner of Euclid and Wellesley on the next nice Saturday afternoon? I predict four hits in the first hour. Usually you can hear the cars from Bryant St. (two blocks away). Hey, that's $600 towards getting the city out of debt |:^)

Seriously, we've been too quiet. I believe that many people will

mitigate their behavior once they know that all lot of us do care and that the police are ready to fine those who are tormenting the rest of us. Do any of us need to read the scores of studies which document the negative effects that noise has on health? Don't we already know it by the way our bodies tense up and the blood pressure rises?

Or is this just one man's lonely aggravation?

Thanks for listening.

Dan Sweeney

-- <http://www.highlandpark.pgh.pa.us/mailman/listinfo/neighborhood>

-- <http://www.highlandpark.pgh.pa.us/mailman/listinfo/neighborhood>