It's back to the drawing board for city staff when it comes to creating a unified noise bylaw that would apply across Greater Sudbury.
Meeting Tuesday, city councillors had a few issues with a report that was supposed to be the basis for a single, citywide law. Currently, noise regulations are governed by a patchwork of rules, a legacy of bylaws passed by the former municipalities before amalgamation 16 years ago.
The proposed guidelines were derived from a series of public consultations held since the fall of 2015. Read the full report here.
Ward 3 Coun. Gerry Montpellier was particularly upset with proposed restrictions on motorized racing on private property, which would be limited to between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.
The city has history of complaints “regarding motorized sports on informal practice tracks,” the report said. “Identified as an issue through public consultation process – most wish to restrict these noises. Most municipalities surveyed either prohibit or regulate the times of operation.”
Montpellier, who said he owns a range of vehicles, said the new restrictions sends the wrong message at a time when the city is trying to develop a motosports park.
“I am not happy,” he said, adding he has been involved in the industry for almost 50 years.
He said the report was an apparent attempt to placate residents whose demand for quiet was unreasonable.
“A lot of this is designed by whiners – whiners!” he said. “A little handful of whiners.”
How can the city be taken seriously in its attempts to foster the industry, when the report recommends having the shortest racing hours in Canada?
“We're looking for a park, but now we're telling people don't come here, we don't want your noise,” Montpellier said.
“Enough with the whiners, let's deal with the happy majority who live in this city.”
Ward 12 Coun. Joscelyne Landry-Altmann agreed, and said the proposed changes could affect Sudbury Kartways on Notre Dame Avenue, which operates later in the summer.
“It's counterproductive,” Landry-Altmann said of the proposed changes. “Historically, the complaints you speak of have been during the day not at night.”
The way it's written now, she said, could lead to complaints driven by neighbourhood disputes, rather than legitimate concerns. And how will it be policed?
“Are we going to have bylaw officers on shift every day at 7 p.m.?” she asked.
Brendan Adair, the city's manager of bylaw and security, said the proposed changes are aimed at people who like to drive their snow machines or ATVs at night on their property, and it was “not the intent to go against the culture of motorized sports.”
They were trying to address problems with “informal” tracks, he said.
“Racing for a full day can be troublesome for a community.”
“I'm getting more upset,” Montpellier responded. “You trying to tell me I can even run them in my own yard? ...Who comes up with this stuff?”
As part of the changes, the city would purchase five sound level meters, at a cost of $10,000 each, while bylaw staff would take a $1,500 course to learn how to use them.
To save costs, Adair said the goal was to have some staff received the training, and then train others on the equipment in house.
Ward 4 Coun. Evelyn Dutrisac took issue with a proposal to allow snow plowing on all streets in the city at any time of the day or night. She said she's received complaints about the noise the plows make in the wee hours.
“We need to plow the roads, but maybe we can find a better time rather than waking them up at night,” Dutrisac said.
At that point, councillors agreed there were too many issues with the report, and voted to have staff take another run at the bylaw and report back as early as possible in 2017.
