INNISFAIL – The hammer is coming down on noisy vehicles in town.
Town council is now two thirds of the way of approving a bylaw amendment that would make it illegal for motorists to inappropriately rev their engines anywhere in the community.
On Jan. 22, town council approved the first two readings of a proposed Traffic Bylaw amendment that would outlaw excessive noise from motor vehicles, specifically modified muscle and sports cars, at a monetary cost to taxpayers of thousands of dollars.
The vote was 6 - 1 in favour of the motion, with only Coun. Jason Heistad opposing.
However, because there was not unanimous vote to move to third and final reading approval can’t be made until the next council regular meeting on the second Monday of February.
“I personally had a complaint on Friday (Jan. 19) of a vehicle that was buzzing through their neighbourhood, so I think it's something the community wants,” said Mayor Jean Barclay.
“I think it was when Queen Elizabeth passed away and there was a ceremony at the Cenotaph, and there were times vehicles were so loud taking off from the stop sign you couldn't even hear what was going on.
“I’m totally supportive of this and if nothing else, sends a message we take this seriously.”
However, Heistad, the motion’s lone dissenter, said council has “bigger fish to fry” than deal with noisy vehicles.
“We got issues with water in in Central Alberta, all over the province,” said Heistad, who earlier this year supported efforts by the town to address the noisy vehicle issue. “Before administration, fire and protective services and RCMP concentrate on young people that can't afford insurance or a vehicle period and tag them with $250 fine, we have bigger fish to fry. We have bigger issues in our community to deal with.”
Heistad told council he was concerned the costs for some vehicle owners could be too high if they were forced to upgrade to be compliant with the amended bylaw.
“We already have some tools in our toolbox that we can utilize,” said Heistad. “I think there are certain individuals in town that may not have the affordability to upgrade their vehicles, and there's some people that live in our community that have vehicles that are not running that well.”
During the Jan. 22 regular council meeting Gary Leith, manager of the town’s fire and protective services, presented a report outlining administration efforts to address the noisy vehicle problem, an issue council first discussed last April.
He was asked directly by Heistad if he believed noisy vehicles were a current big issue in the community.
Leith replied there is a “small minority of people” who do operate excessively noisy vehicles.
“As I recall, even on Remembrance Day while the service was taking place, excessive noise, as I would personally describe it, disturbed elements of that service,” said Leith.
“This (bylaw amendment) gives us an additional tool and potential to deal with it, and the opportunity to change the culture as well, and the community to say, ‘this (noise) is not what we want in our community'.”
Leith said administration was tasked with reviewing the Town’s current Traffic Bylaw with the intent of providing tools to deal with vehicles that were considered a noise nuisance.
He said staff looked at several municipalities that had provisions within their community standard, noise and traffic bylaws.
Council was also told tools were currently available under the provincial Traffic Safety Act to enforce excessive vehicle noise.
Leith said these regulations prohibit excessive vehicle noise in a residential area between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m.
However, he added these provisions presented enforcement challenges, including the vehicle no longer being at a location after a complaint was received, and potentially incriminating drivers by asking them to run their vehicles above idle.
Instead, Leith said administration proposed an amended Traffic Bylaw with a definition of what constitutes excessive noise.
The new definition includes disturbing noises such as squealing of tires, the revving of internal combustion engines, loud accelerations, roaring or explosive sounds, and sounds from radios, stereos, televisions, or other devices within motor vehicles.
It also includes any sound exceeding levels of 92 decibels or more, as measured by a sound level meter at 50 centimetres from the point of reception while the motor vehicle’s engine is idling.
Council was told it also included any sound exceeding sound levels of 96 decibels or more as measured by a sound level meter at 50 centimetres from the point of reception while the motor vehicle’s engine is at any RPM greater than idling.
As for cost, training for community peace officers and RCMP will have a price tag of $6,000.
The town also wants four decibel meters, two for RCMP and another two for peace officers, at a cost of $850 per unit, plus an annual calibration fee of $100 per unit.
