Lewes looks to update noise ordinance

The City of Lewes does not allow any outdoor amplification.

And because Lewes is a popular destination for beach weddings, fundraiser events and other warm-weather activities, mayor and city council has a lot of waiver requests – 31 since January 2017. 

Now officials want to make the waiver request an administrative decision made by City Manager Ann Marie Townshend. 

“For those applications that are unconventional in nature or she just gets a little queasy about it, she has the option to send it to city council and allow them to make the decision,” said City Solicitor Glenn Mandalas. 

After discussion among council March 19, officials added an appeal process, where an applicant could appeal the city manager’s decision to council. 

Under a draft ordinance council is considering, the city manager would make a decision based on several factors, including the number of people attending, location, duration, time of day, nature, amplification equipment to be used and whether the event is organized by a Lewes resident or organization. She may also consider the character and intensity of the noise to emanate from the event, and she may not approve a request for amplification for an event between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m.

Councilwoman Bonnie Osler said she worried that by taking the waiver requests out of a public forum, the neighbors most likely to be affected by noise would be caught by surprise. She suggested requiring the applicant to certify they’ve talked to neighbors about the request before submitting an application. 

Council is also reexamining its standard for a noise violation. If approved, the draft ordinance introduces a reasonable-person standard, where noise is considered a violation when it disturbs the peace and quiet of a reasonable person with normal sensitivities, as determined by a police officer.

Mandalas, who as solicitor for Rehoboth Beach City Council, dealt with noise ordinance issues a few years ago, said the reasonable-person standard is the best option.

“It’s a standard that’s being adopted across the country,” he said. “Noise meters are easily beatable in court. This standard seems to be the one that’s being adopted and probably makes sense.” 

The draft also reintroduces into city code appropriate construction hours, which were erroneously removed when council adopted a new building code. The ordinance would establish hours of 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., from May 1 to Sept. 30, and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Oct. 1 to April 30.