Fairfield County could become a quieter place, as the result of a noise ordinance approved by County Council Monday night.

The new ordinance, which is in effect, makes illegal “any unreasonably loud, disturbing or unnecessary noise which causes material distress, discomfort or injury to persons of ordinary sensibilities in the immediate vicinity thereof.”

The ordinance, Council Chairman David Ferguson said, says that everyone in the County has the same rights.

“What it says is that at any time you can get in trouble, if you are making excessive noise, you can get in trouble” he said.

Additionally, the law forbids the keeping of any animal, which by causing frequent or long - continued noise, disturbs any person of ordinary sensibilities.

The construction, erection, excavation, demolition, alteration or repair of any building other than between the hours of 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. on weekdays is also a violation of the ordinance.

The law; however, grants the County building official the power to grant three - day exception permits to this provision.

The Council has requested that Building and Zoning Official Ron Stowers and County Attorney Tommy Sprott look into whether the ordinance needs changes concerning exception permits, particularly for projects which could involve 24 - hour - a - day construction for a period longer than three days.

Stowers said that Council could consider a provision, which would provide longer exception permit times for projects costing more than an agreed upon amount.

In determining whether an incident is a violation of the noise ordinance, an officer must consider the following:

the intensity of the noise;

the general characteristics of the areas where the noise is occurring;

the time the noise is occurring;

the reasonable expectation of quiet of those people who surround the area where the noise is occurring;

and in the case of motor vehicles, whether or not such vehicles are equipped with mufflers and/or suppression devices which keep exhaust noises down to a level at or below that which the manufacturers of such vehicles provided as original equipment designed for acceptable street use.

The ordinance provides for minimum fines of $100 and a maximum fine of $200 for the first offense and a maximum fine of $250 for a second or subsequent offenses.

During the summer of 2006, Council gave first and second reading approval to the measure. The proposal did not reappear on the Council’s agenda until December, 2007.

Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Chief Keith Lewis told the Council before the ordinance was passed that he believed that officers would have no problem enforcing the law. It was Lewis who first asked Council to change the noise ordinance.

“Since the first of June of this year (2007), we have had 28 noise calls,” Lewis said. “Of those 28, we gave warnings to two of them and the rest of them were what we call ‘unfounded’. A lot of times, people will call when they hear a gun shot and we can’t find it or hear it any more.”