8.68.150 Findings.

             A.               Outdoor recreational activities involving amplified sound, including, but not limited to, athletic events, sporting events, entertainment events and concerts, may create excessive noise which is detrimental to the public health, safety, welfare and the peace and quiet of the inhabitants of the city and its environs.

             B.               Prevailing weather conditions within the city, including temperature inversions, cause the sounds of outdoor activities to bounce in varying directions and reach varying residential locations at different times, sometimes close to the source of sound and sometimes farther away, sometimes in one direction from the sound source and sometimes in another direction. These conditions are particularly acute during the months of September and October.

             C.               The city’s existing noise regulations, which require extended off-site measurements of the sound rather than measurements at its source, are very cumbersome and expensive to enforce, especially in connection with outdoor recreational activities.

             D.               Studies by the environmental health division of the Sacramento County environmental management department conclude that imposing a volume limit of ninety-six (96) dba l_eq measured at the sound booth or other reasonable location within one hundred fifty (150) feet of the source of amplified sound at an outdoor activity is generally equivalent to the limits already imposed by the city’s noise regulations which measure sound levels off-site, in that it is substantially likely that sound levels in excess of ninety-six (96) dba l_eq will result in many violations of provisions of this chapter, while sound levels of ninety-six (96) dba leq or lower are likely to result in few such violations.

             E.               Limiting sound levels of outdoor activities to ninety-six (96) dba l_eq and requiring amplified sound not to be used at outdoor activities after ten p.m. on Sunday through Thursday, and after eleven p.m. at other times, is necessary to protect the public health, safety, welfare and the peace and quiet of the inhabitants of the city and its environs.

             F.               A sound level of ninety-six (96) dba is as loud as or louder than a refuse truck three feet from the listener, a jet plane taking off one thousand (1000) feet from the listener, or a train horn one hundred (100) feet from the listener.

             G.               Limiting sound levels at the source is content neutral. It helps to avoid the problem of complaints being received, and therefore measurements being made and enforcement undertaken, only in connection with certain kinds of activities, or certain kinds of music, which some people may consider objectionable and not other kinds of activities or music which may be just as loud.

             H.              A variance procedure can be devised to raise the sound limit or modify the time restrictions upon a showing that a facility, because of its design, location or other characteristics, is capable of handling higher sound levels or later activities without substantially increasing the likelihood that violations of the other provisions of this chapter will occur. (Prior code § 66.02.210)