By JEFFERSON WEAVER
Staff Writer
Boom cars, barking dogs, and bickering neighbors take note: Whiteville Police are listening for you.
“If a noise is a nuisance, the person will get a citation,” said Police Lt. Glenda George, “and a nuisance is well-defined in the city code.”
Police are starting a crackdown on noise pollution in accordance with the city ordinances.
The city has a number of rules regarding incessantly barking dogs, loud music on city streets or in homes, and other headache-producers. George said violation of the ordinance can result in a fine.
Anything audible outside of a vehicle or home can be considered a nuisance at any time of day or night, George said, but police use a lot of discretion in enforcing the rules.
“Mowing your yard at 10 in the morning won’t get you a ticket,” she said, “but mowing your yard at 10 at night will. People need to use common sense.”
According to the city code, amplified sounds are not allowed within 300 feet of hospitals, schools, churches, public buildings and nursing homes, or in any other “zone of quiet.”
Loud music or exhaust should only be able to be heard by the people in a vehicle, George explained.
“And that means inside a vehicle,” George said. “Standing in the front yard with the car doors open doesn’t put you inside the vehicle.”
George said the rules aren’t about keeping people from enjoying loud music or other sounds.
“It’s about being a nuisance to other people,” she said. “Anything that intrudes upon your peace and tranquility is a nuisance, and will be dealt with accordingly.”
George said parents can go a long way to helping with the problem by limiting how loud kids turn up the radio in the family car.
“If your children borrow your car and play the radio,” she said, “please tell them not to turn the volume past 03. Much more than that can damage hearing anyway.”
For more information about the noise nuisance ordinance, call the Whiteville City Police.