Council Recommends Noise Ordinance For Adoption

A months-long debate about changes to Vienna's noise ordinance came closer to its end on Monday night, as Town Council voted 5-2 to send proposed changes to the sections that deal with hours, construction and contractor lawn maintenance equipment forward for adoption. 

"This seemingly innocent proposal has generated probably more e-mails and conversation then anything we’ve done for a long time," Mayor Jane Seeman said.

The council will vote to adopt the ordinance at a future council meeting.

Under the proposed ordinance, , work in residential areas would not be permitted on Saturdays until 9 a.m., instead of 7 a.m. as the current code states. It would continue to ban contractor work on Sundays, along with lawn mowing, excavation, demolition and other construction activities, and would also specifically ban this work on six federal holidays: Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day.

Any of these activities that are done for pay would be prohibited on Sundays, according to the proposed code. Residents would be permitted to do this type of work on their own home on Sundays after 9 a.m.

The ordinance presented Monday night added new language that exempts contractors working at recreational facilities from the Sunday ban, a change introduced after became a vocal opponent to the plan , they said. But the change would also help organizations like the Vienna Little League, Town Attorney Steve Briglia said, which contracts out its lawn mowing and will often need to maintain the fields on Sundays. 

But some residents who spoke at Monday night's meeting said the ordinance still did not address the issue that "noise is noise" -- it simply restricts who can make it. Council members and Seeman filed into record e-mails from residents who asked for a stricter noise ordinance that would create a "day of quiet" for everyone. A few groups  e-mailed to ask for an ordinance that was not so severe, including an 85-signature petition from Northwest Vienna residents, who say it would prohibit them from

The Medwedeff's father, David, told Council members that none of the noise ordinances in surrounding jurisdictions -- including Alexandria, Fairfax City and the City of Falls Church --  addressed lawn mowing services in the same way Vienna was trying to.

"I support a noise ordinance but I'm opposed to adding lawn services," he said. "If you want to reduce noise you need to limit the hours that citizens make noise, not prohibit a group of people. That's discrimination. By preventing lawn services you’re not reducing noise.  You’re preventing small businesses and teenagers from making money, and that goes against the Town's goal of encouraging small businesses." 

Others begged for more quiet.

"There is substantial support for doing the most we can to provide a quiet environment for people to enjoy their property," council member Laurie Cole said.

Resident Matthew DiFiore said the holidays chosen by council "seemed arbitrary," and that it may run into problems for holidays that occur on various days of the week but are celebrated by federal employees on the following Mondays. The council did not have an answer for whether the actual or observed holiday would be enforced.

"We're doing something that doesn't need to be done," he said.

Council members Howard Springsteen and Edythe Kelleher voted against the ordinance, citing their disagreement with the clause that prohibits for-pay work on Sundays. They said it would preclude them from hiring their own sons, or neighborhood teenagers, from doing work in their yards.

"One unintended consequence [from this] has already popped up," Kelleher said, referring to Westwood's opposition late in the adoption process.

"When this is over with, there are going to be people that aren’t happy," Seeman said. " We can't make everyone happy."