§ 40-3. Definitions.

[As used in this chapter:]

(a)

Administrator means the chief of police of the city of Syracuse or his designee.

(b)

Administration means the Syracuse Police Department.

(c)

Authorized emergency vehicle means every ambulance, police vehicle, fire vehicle and civil defense vehicle when on emergency calls.

(d)

Best practical noise control measures means any device or method which reduces the generation or transmission of noise and is determined by the administrator to be feasible, taking into consideration the age of the equipment and facilities involved, the cost of such measures, the processes employed and the non-noise control environmental impact.

(e)

Burglar alarm means any sound signal device designed and intended to produce an audible sound signal upon unauthorized entrance into a building or motor vehicle.

(f)

Commercial operation means any business or commercial activity that involves the purchase or utilization of goods or services.

(g)

Construction means any activity necessary or incidental to the erection, demolition, assembling, altering, installing or equipping of buildings, highways, roads, utility lines or other property.

(h)

Construction material means any material, regardless of its composition, designed and customarily used in construction.

(i)

Container means any receptacle, regardless of contents, which is manufactured from wood, metal, plastic, paper or any other material including but not limited to any barrel, basket, box, crate, tub, can, bottle or refuse container.

(j)

Device means any mechanism which is intended to or which actually produces sound when operated or handled.

(k)

Emergency means a public calamity or an exposure of any person or property to imminent danger.

(l)

Emergency warning device means any sound signal device that is designed to be used and is actually used to warn of an emergency.

(m)

Industrial operation means the production, fabrication and storage of durable and nondurable manmade goods.

(n)

Ordinance means the Syracuse Noise Control Ordinance.

(o)

Person means any individual, partnership, company, corporation, association, firm, organization, governmental agency, administration or department, or any other group of individuals, or any person or employee thereof.

(p)

Real property boundary shall mean an imaginary line exterior to any structure, along the ground surface, which separates the real property owned by one person from that owned by another person, and the vertical extension of such line.

(q)

Refuse collection vehicle means any motor vehicle designed to compact and transport refuse.

(r)

Sound reproduction device means a device intended primarily for the production or reproduction of sound including, but not limited to any musical instrument, radio receiver, tape recorder, phonograph, or sound amplification system.

(s)

Sound signal device means any device that is designed to produce a sound or transmit nonverbal information.

(t)

Sound source site means any land under the ownership or control of a person in or upon which one or more sound sources are located. The sound source site includes all individual sound sources that are located on such site, whether stationary, movable or mobile.

(u)

Unnecessary noise means any excessive or unusually loud sound or any sound which either annoys, disturbs, injures or endangers the comfort, repose, health, peace or safety of a reasonable person of normal sensibilities, or which causes injury to animal life or damage to property or business. Standards to be considered in determining whether unnecessary noise exists in a given situation, include but are not limited to the following:

1.

The intensity of the noise

2.

Whether the nature of the noise is usual or unusual

3.

Whether the origin of the noise is natural or unnatural

4.

The intensity of the background noise

5.

The proximity of the noise to sleeping facilities

6.

The nature and the zoning district of the area within which the noise emanates

7.

The time of the day or night the noise occurs

8.

The duration of the noise

9.

Whether the sound source is temporary

10.

Whether the noise is continuous or intermittent

11.

Whether alternate methods are available to achieve the objectives of the sound producing activity.

(Gen. Ord. No. 35-1977, 8-1-77; Gen. Ord. No. 30-1987, 9-8-87)