East Dundee expands noise ordinance to entire village
East Dundee officials have taken a noise ordinance for only liquor establishments and applied it to the entire village.
The broader ordinance curtails noise to certain times of the day and says that beyond those hours, you can’t make noise that can be heard 50 feet or more past your property.
The rule applies between 10:30 p.m. and 7 a.m. Sunday through Thursday and between midnight and 7 a.m. Friday and Saturdays. The previous hours were between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m., every day of the week, Police Chief Terry Mee said.
Noise generated from live entertainment at two beer gardens and from a banquet facility prompted the discussion.
But trustees widened the scope of the law to cover the rest of the village, as officials routinely field noise complaints that don’t come from those venues, Village President Jerald Bartels said.
For example, people have complained about people mowing their lawns too early in the morning, about construction noise and about a car wash that uses a loud dryer. “Noise is something that’s not unique just to people that have liquor licenses,” Bartels said. “It’s better to just have one set of ordinances regarding noises and to separate those things.”
Village officials thought about making the noise cutoff even earlier but nixed that plan after receiving objections from local bars, Bartels said.
The village board’s next step is to address the noise that occurs during the day and evening.
“We still need to go back and take a look at what needs to be done there,” Bartels said. “We’re trying to find a solution that’s going to work with everybody.”