Orange County NC Website
<br />Steve Chambers sai d that he lives on White Cross Road and he races motorcycles <br />professionally.. He said that Mr. Poveromo is his neighbor and the reason the noise has <br />decreased is that he has been building a house. He would like to continue to race motorcycles. <br />He said that in 1978 they moved to their property. People around him have started clear- cutting <br />and now people nearby can hear mor a of the noise.. He said that a lot of people move to the <br />country because it is a place where you can make noise.. He is trying to make this a profession <br />and he and his family like to do this at their home.. He said that he was not trying to hurt other <br />people. They run stop mufflers on their m otorcycles, but he does not know if this makes a <br />difference. He said that if the noise is being measured at the neighbor's house and it is too loud <br />by law, then that is fine with him. But he does not want it to be measured from his property <br />because it might not be that loud at his neighbor's house.. He does not want to lose what he is <br />trying to do. He said that they put in an irrigation system on his track so they would not have <br />any dust. <br />Don Wollum said that he lives northeast of town and he gene rally supports the noise <br />ordinance.. He hopes that this ordinance will address trucks in the morning in a resi dential area <br />in the County, specifically refuse trucks. The residential trash pickup starts at 6:00 a.m. He <br />contacted the refuse company and they informed him that there was no provision for an <br />appropriate startup time for residential trash pickup in the County. H e hopes that this ordinance <br />will provide some specificity as to the time that noise can be made. <br />Commissioner Carey asked if the noise ordinance was complaint driven and Craig <br />Benedict said yes. <br />Commissioner Carey said that the County Commissioners do no t have the authority to <br />ban trucks. Geof Gledhil I said that these are DOT roads and it is difficult for counties to regulate <br />in an area where the state has preempted counties from regulating. <br />John Link asked if this included information on the muffler and Geof Gledhill said that <br />there are muffling requirements in state law. He will see if there is any room for the County to <br />regulate in this area,. <br />Chair Jacobs said that they heard two sides of muffler issue -the motor cycle is <br />operating with an approved muffler and the trucks are not. Geof GI edhill said that there is a <br />difference in regulating sound on private property versus state r oads He thinks that sound on <br />private property can be regulated. <br />Discussion ensued on whether to close the public hearing. <br />A motion was made by Commissioner Carey, seconded by Commissioner Gordon to <br />close the public hearing. <br />VOTE: UNANIMOUS <br />Chair Jacobs said that he would like feedback from Durham and Alamance Counties <br />from their Sheriffs offices. <br />Geof Gledhill made reference to "reasonable person" and said that it may be a good idea <br />to use a reasonable person's standard, but also have some minimum thresholds that are <br />beyond reason.. <br />John Link said that staff commented on how to quantify good neighborliness. He said <br />that there is a q uestion of what is reasonable; such as he may use a weed eater or leaf blower <br />four times a year, but not every day for four hours. One measure for him would be whether the <br />noise is generated for utilitarian measures or for recreation. The staff did not come up with any <br />great ideas for how to quantify this reasonable threshold. <br />D. NON-PUBLIC HEARING <br />1. CMAQ (Congestion Mitigation & Air Quality) Report <br />