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An Ordinance to amend Sections 9.20.020 and 9.20.060 of the Metropolitan Code of Laws to amend the noise provisions relative to motor vehicles and to authorize the Department of Codes Administration to enforce excessive noise provisions.
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE METROPOLITAN GOVERNMENT OF NASHVILLE AND DAVIDSON COUNTY:
Section 1. That Section 9.20.020 of the Metropolitan Code of Laws is amended by deleting Subsection A.3. and replacing it with the following:
3. Operate a motor vehicle if the muffler noise or other exhaust noise is plainly audible at seventy-five feet or from any point within the interior of a residential structure.
Section 2. That Section 9.20.060 of the Metropolitan Code of Laws is amended by deleting the section in its entirety and replacing it with the following:
9.20.060 Enforcement.
The metropolitan Nashville police department shall be responsible for the enforcement of violations of this chapter. In addition to enforcement by the metropolitan Nashville police department, the department of codes administration shall also enforce the provisions of Sections 9.20.010.A and 9.20.020.A.
Section 3. This ordinance shall take effect from and after its enactment, the welfare of The Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County requiring it.
Agenda Analysis
Analysis
This ordinance amends Sections 9.20.020 and 9.20.060 of the Metropolitan Code of Laws regarding motor vehicle noise and enforcement of the excessive noise provisions.
Under current law, noise from a motor vehicle’s exhaust cannot be plainly audible at two-hundred feet. This ordinance would amend this requirement to reduce the distance from two-hundred feet to seventy-five feet or from any point within the interior of a residential structure. Further, language would be amended to clarify that the noise regulated is from a motor vehicle’s muffler or exhaust.
This ordinance would also authorize the Department of Codes Administration to enforce two provisions of the excessive noise provisions. Under current law, the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department is responsible for enforcement of the excessive noise provisions in Chapter 9.20 of the Metro Code. This ordinance would authorize Codes to enforce the excessive noise provisions applicable to (1) sound amplification equipment for properties outside of the zoned Downtown Code area and (2) motor vehicle noise.