Editorial: City Council to Mull New Noise Regulations, do they need Deeper Research?

When you think noise ordinances in a college town, it’s not usually mowers, leaf blowers and air conditioning units that automatically spring to mind, but those are what our city councilors are set to consider this upcoming Tuesday. First, however, they will need to ask city staff for a deeper report.

Let us explain.

Community Development Director Paul Bilotta has a commendable history of thoroughness, but his memo to councilors on this matter cites five cities with no such sound ordinances, and a sixth, as the only one that does. Predictably, the memo offers only minimal insight.

Most of the cities he cites are in counties bordering our own, and we get the idea that locality could count, and is even the norm for a report like this one. But we don’t think that’s particularly instructive in this instance. A report looking at cities that firstly have these ordinances and secondly like them would be more helpful.

We also wonder if City staff would appreciate some assistance. Maybe a call to our favorite local world class research institution would have some benefit – we’re betting the university’s PR department would happily connect the city with a few inhouse experts as an interim step.

After that, it’s imaginable the City would ultimately hire a subject matter expert that regularly consults on these sorts of regulations. Maybe sooner would be better than later.

Why this is important

New state laws and basic human needs are driving zoning trends towards more densely populated neighborhoods. This is happening in Corvallis. Predictably, our lived experiences of home will inevitably be more impacted by our neighbors than in the past.

So, just like good fences make for good neighbors, good rules would also help in our evolving residential landscape.

On a more speculative level, we also wonder if new livability ordinances may help existing neighborhoods become more accepting of incoming housing developments. Would some level of assured protections, frankly, grease the wheels for a more constructive path forward. The current polemic pitting a supposed ‘not in my backyard’ crowd against a relatively recent ‘yes in my backyard’ pushback from housing advocates feels more like a word salad shoving match than progress.

It’s a dynamic that seems overdue for some kind of new middle way, but we don’t have to resolve that to still advocate for some new noise regulations now.

Our hills and valleys are alive with the sounds of power yard tools and HVAC systems – and sometimes you just want to hear the rain outside, maybe even need to hear it.

How we got here

This issue first arose during the regular public comment period of a city council meeting over the middle of last year. It started with just one women’s story; her neighbor had stuck a heating and air conditioning compressor outside her bedroom window – running the thing 24/7. The open window she had appreciated for ventilating the sleep chamber with gentle breezes and birdsong had overnight become something more like sleeping by, yuh know… a compressor.

But then what happened next was an unusual response to a public comment period. Most of the councilors revealed that her complaint echoed what they hear from their own constituents all over town. They then went on to ask City staff to research the feasibility and specifics of new regulations that may help.

We think those instincts were positive, and we hope the council chooses to move our fair burgh towards some new rules – and using other communities as an example is just fine with us, but this is Corvallis, so we wouldn’t be surprised if something innovative and new arises as well.

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