09/02/2003 --sugar Creek Gets Tough On Noise

Sugar Creek Gets Tough on Noise

September 2, 2003 -- Drivers with loud, bass-thumping car stereos be warned: Sugar Creek, Mo., has updated its noise ordinance to help keep the city streets a little quieter.
The Sugar Creek Board of Aldermen on Monday unanimously approved updating its noise ordinance, "regulating the reduction, control, and prevention of loud and raucous noise."

The changes in the ordinance aren't limited to loud stereos, but also include vehicle horns and alarms sounding for more than 20 consecutive seconds. Horns used as a warning are exempt.

The updated ordinance targets radios, televisions, stereos and musical instruments that "unreasonably disturb the peace" or are "plainly audible at a distance of 50 feet."

Loudspeakers, amplifiers and public address systems are also included in the updated sections of the ordinance as are animals and birds.

Sugar Creek Police Chief Herb Soule said the changes essentially update an old ordinance. The city is not necessarily looking to crack down on noisy stereos, he said, and the police have not received many noise complaints. The ordinance also allows the police a little leeway. Officers can give violators a chance to turn down their stereos.

It all depends on their attitude, Soule said. Those who refuse, he told the board, may receive "an engraved invitation to court."

-The Examiner