Residents may not like sound of rarely enforced law

Sparta -- Tell the neighbors to put the down the hammers, to come down off the roof, that the weekends are made for peace and quiet. Tell them, if they don’t believe it, just ask a Sparta couple who were ordered to stop outdoor repairs on their home one Saturday morning after a neighbor complained to police about the noise. The staples of suburban living - lawnmowers, leaf blowers, chainsaws -- as familiar to Sparta residents as the sounds of church bells on Sunday mornings -- may be against the law within the township on weekends. Has anyone ever heard of such a thing? The Sparta police, who responded to the Summit Road home of Anthony and Dawn Corbo, certainly have. “First of all, someone has to make a complaint,” said Sparta Police Chief Ernie Reigstad. “It’s not our job to go around and look for this. It’s the old adage. If a tree falls in the woods, does it make a sound?” That depends on whom townspeople want to listen to. The Corbos, who sounded off at a recent township council meeting about the rarely addressed law, said no. The council, which adopted the code in 1978, said it would listen a little closer. “We’re going to look into this,” said mayor Alish Hambel. “It’s unrealistic to the way Sparta people operate. I think we’ll try and make it more realistic. Sundays will always stand, but maybe we need to rethink Saturdays.” Current police regulations prohibit the construction or repair of buildings any time except from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday. An emergency affecting public safety may be excluded but only with a permit from a “construction official.” The permit may not exceed three days, but may be reissued every three days while the emergency continues. Under the provisions, “no person shall cause to be made, directly or indirectly, any loud noise which disturbs, injures or endangers the health comfort, safety, or welfare of others within the township.” Specific acts deemed to be loud might emanate from radios and televisions, exhaust systems, loading or unloading, blowing, fans or pumps, and even animals. Sound levels may not exceed 60 decibels, from 7 a.m. to10 p.m., and 50 decibels, from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m., when measured at any point on a person’s property. The levels drop another 10 decibels when measured in the center of a room from where the complaint originates. Reigstad said his department rarely gets a complaint concerning this type of violation before a neighbor has made an attempt to correct the situation. “It depends on how reasonable people are with their neighbors,” said Reigstad. “We’ve had people cutting their grass at midnight with spotlights on because they work at night. Sometimes things come up. These ordinances are written for people who are going to push the issue with their neighbors.” Since his introduction to the law, Dawn Corbo said she has made it a habit to drive around town and make note of the number of people breaking the construction codes. “Construction jobs are going on all over town,” said councilman Jerry Murphy. “I can fully appreciate people wanting to work on a house on a Saturday or Sunday. But when a neighbor calls in a violation, the complaint triggers a whole new set of circumstances.” Hambel said the council has asked township manager Henry Underhill to look into noise ordinances used in nearby towns with similar demographics to Sparta before making any public recommendations. “Common sense has to rule,” she said. “Just be considerate of your neighbors until we sort this out. Talk to them if you are going to do something unexpected.”