How much noise is too much noise?

Jesse Jones/Sandoval Signpost

How much noise is too much noise? That’s what the City of Rio Rancho wants to know.

During the Thursday, March 14 Rio Rancho City Council meeting, the governing body postponed any action on the current noise ordinance until the April 11 meeting, allowing citizens to propose suggested language into the ordinance. 

Rio Rancho’s official X page posted, “The City’s Unreasonable Noise Ordinance has subjective and undefined elements. The Governing Body is considering an ordinance update to reduce adherence and enforcement challenges. The City is seeking citizen input on the proposed update.”

According to Peter Wells, the Rio Rancho Deputy City Manager, in the current noise ordinance, anything that annoys or disturbs somebody else is unreasonable.

The proposed ordinance aims to provide a clear definition of the terms and establish noise measurement standards. It sets specific times during which certain noise levels are permitted – daytime: 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. and nighttime: 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. The ordinance also allows for temporary exceptions and outlines specific cases where the rules do not apply.

“What OSHA defines as normal urban residents’ noise, is 50 decibels,” said Wells. “That’s why we have what we proposed was 55 (decibels in residential areas) and then nighttime going down to 50 (decibels).”

The current ordinance grants officers discretion in enforcing noise violations, instead, the proposed one would require officers to use decibel meters. According to Wells, officers would determine the property lines upon arriving at a location with excessive noise. They would then position themselves at the property line and measure the sound levels to determine the extent of the issue. The measurement process would always be based on accessibility to the perceived problem area and the results would be documented because it is a crucial aspect of the enforcement process.

The Mayor and the council members spent over an hour discussing the proposed ordinance and asking Wells numerous questions.

“I think there needs to be some clarity, I think there needs to be a definition. What that is exactly?” said Mayor Gregg Hull. “I’m gonna lean on my, on my governing body members to help figure this out.”

The deadline to submit suggestions is Friday, March 29. A non-voting work session will be held on Monday, April 1 for the council to review the proposed ordinance suggestions.

The proposed ordinance can be viewed here, residents can give their input at http://rrnm.gov/noise.