Woodsiders sound off on proposed noise ordinance Woodsiders sound off on proposed noise ordinance (March 24, 2004)

By Andrea Gemmet
Almanac Staff Writer

To make a racket on weekends or not to make a racket, that is the question.

Well, it's one of the questions the Woodside Town Council is struggling with as it tries to create a noise ordinance to regulate the amount of annoying, invasive sound that residents have to put up with. Currently, the town has no regulations in place, except for those associated with site development permits.

The council has targeted construction noise, a frequent source of complaints and, unlike traffic noise, something the town has some jurisdiction over.

The council took testimony at its March 9 meeting, and appears to have a consensus for imposing more stringent restrictions on weekend construction than it had previously considered. The six council members present gave Town Manager Susan George a bewildering array of suggestions, including a ban on all construction activities Sundays, holidays and Saturday afternoons, and directed staff to draft a new version of a noise ordinance for their consideration.

A divided council introduced a noise ordinance January 13 that centered on limiting the hours of construction, with looser restrictions for residents working on their own properties than for commercial construction crews. It would have allowed commercial construction on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., with residents allowed to work until 6 p.m. It also would have banned commercial construction on Sundays and holidays, but allowed it from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. for residents. Power garden tool use would also have been restricted to the same hours as construction.

With no second vote of approval, however, the ordinance will not go into effect.

"I recently spent the weekend in Dallas, and it was the quietest one I've had in years," said Kathleen Scutchfield, a 30-year Woodside resident and a member of the Planning Commission. "I have a spectacular piece of property in the most beautiful place on the planet, and I have to go away to enjoy a quiet weekend."

She advocated a complete construction ban on weekends, and said that she has endured construction on adjacent properties for the past 10-1/2 years -- and that's not including the ongoing construction on neighbor Larry Ellison's property.

Ten residents spoke at the meeting, along with a delegation from the town's Conservation and Environmental Health Committee. The majority told the council that peace and quiet on weekends was not too much to ask.

Several others said that a weekend construction ban would rob handy residents of their only opportunities to improve their properties.

"We shouldn't make criminals out of people who are do-it-yourselfers," said Stevan Patrick, also a member of the Planning Commission. "If I couldn't do my own work, I couldn't afford to live here."

The council also discussed repercussions for repeat violators. There are bound to be people who will happily pay multiple fines, and never change their ways, said Councilwoman Deborah Gordon. Councilman Dave Tanner, a landscape contractor, suggested that commercial construction crews that repeatedly break the rules should lose their building permit for 15 or 30 days.

"That will hurt more than the dollar," Mr. Tanner said. "Money doesn't mean anything."

Council members also spent a good deal of time discussing definitions of power tools in the ordinance, and whether to be specific or general. And, recalling that it was a tearful complaint about a foul-mouthed garage band's raucous rehearsals that prompted them to take up a noise ordinance in the first place, several council members said they would like to see something in the ordinance specifically addressing the problem of amplified music.

Councilman Pete Sinclair pointed out that making distinctions between construction noise generated by residents from that made by commercial crews was defeating the purpose of providing peace and quiet for neighbors.

"Noise is noise. I don't care what generates it," he said.

He also pointed out to people concerned that the ordinance would restrict their activities, even ones that their neighbors have never complained about, that enforcement is triggered by complaints being lodged.

"If your neighbors don't care, I don't care either," Mr. Sinclair said. "If a tree falls and no one hears it..."

A revised version of the noise ordinance will come back before the council at a future meeting, as yet unscheduled.

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