Noise Ordinance
Microsoft app meant to detect bad neighborhoods
….route can be developed for a person taking into account factors that specifically affect a pedestrian….stereotypical thought,” says [councilor E. Martin Jewell]….
STEREOTYPE: a standardized mental picture that is held in common by members of a group and that represents an oversimplified opinion, prejudiced attitude, or uncritical judgment.
[Doesn't this fit councilor Jewell?]
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Mom: Son told to ‘drink own spit’ at Richmond Juvenile Detention Center
….staff member told her son to drink his own spit after the boy asked if he could have a drink of water….her son tried to commit suicide – and that she only found out about the incident via a court document….NAACP first blew the whistle on the problems….Why did it have to be brought to our attention by the NAACP?” said [councilor Kathy C. Graziano]….
[How could councilor Graziano not know?]
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School bus lawsuit filed in Richmond
….4-year-old autistic boy has filed a lawsuit alleging that negligence by Richmond school employees allowed her child to be left on a bus in sweltering heat….employees were and continue to be insufficiently trained….seeks $500,000….
timesdispatch.com
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Richmond Police not enforcing noise ordinance
….residents often are awakened after midnight by the incessant pounding….racket disturbs residents of Richmond all over downtown….dozens of complaints….Richmond Police Department and Richmond City Council have really failed….
Seeking a Crime Count
….crime statistics of the City of Richmond on Richmond Police Department’s website….incident reports of these two crimes did not come up when I searched….the three homicides that occurred in Church Hill last month were also not part of the data….Is it possible that Richmond police may be attempting to skew their crime statistics….
via styleweekly.com
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Juvenile Center on Probation
….[Juvenile Detention Center] facility was placed on probation for the second time since 2009….board could move to have the facility’s certification revoked….$344,000 in emergency funds….
via styleweekly.com
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Rattle and Run
Downtown’s bucket drummers come under fire for alleged noise ordinance violations.….residents often are awakened after midnight by the incessant pounding of street percussionists….complaints to Richmond police haven’t deterred the bucket drummers….we seem to be getting the runaround….
via styleweekly.com
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Lawsuit over parade permit denial tossed
parade permit ordinance provided no authority for charging for police escorts….police are entitled to properly charge a reasonable fee to meet the expenses required to maintain public order….not up to a federal court to deny a local government the flexibility of adjusting fees in light of varying conditions….
via timesdispatch.com whsv.com
Richmond police responded to Samuels’ house after the group had left. One officer confronted the group as they left the scene, but no arrests were made.
via wtvr.
Samuels-Tyler Nose Ordinances
City of Richmond, Virginia
2011 Aug 27
This report examines the public comments made by Richmond City Council members during the drafting and adoption of two noise ordinances. It identifies well over 100 manipulative, false, inaccurate, misleading, contradictory, unsupported or absurd representations or positions.
Council members Charles Samuels and Bruce Tyler were the principal advocates for the 2010 ordinance. They were also the principal drafters of the 2011 ordinance.
City Council did not actually assign anyone to research or draft either ordinance.
The City of Virginia Beach took 25 days to adopt its current ordinance. The City of Richmond took 550 days. Richmond’s first attempt was so badly flawed that the court rejected it in a highly critical decision.
City Council engaged in a secretive and wasteful approach and produced an extremely permissive and flawed noise ordinance.
Specifically, the invite speculates that 2nd District Councilman Charles Samuels is inhabited by a poltergeist “who is forcing him to crack down on the liberties of people in the City of Richmond,” calling the exorcism needed because “we don’t believe Charles Samuels is a jerk, we think his oppressive, racist, classist, WASP-y behavior can be explained by a demon possessing him.”
During the city council consideration of a replacement noise ordinance, Charles Samuels made numerous factual representations. He was asked to document two of them:
August 9, 2011
The Honorable Charles Samuels
Re: Ordinance No. 2011-119. Sound RegulationDear Honorable Council Member,
Please tell me the name of the municipality you said you found that produced a sound map of the entire jurisdiction for use in the municipality’s noise ordinance.
Also, please tell me the section of the the Austin, Texas, noise ordinance you said you found that sets 80 decibels as the standard limit in residential districts.
Sincerely yours,
Mr. Samuels responded by providing two sections of the Austin city code:
Tuesday, September 6, 2011 10:41 AM
§ 9-2-4 RESTRICTION ON DECIBEL LEVEL.
A person may not operate sound equipment at a business that produces sound:
(1) in excess of 85 decibels between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 a.m., as measured at the property line of the business; or
(2) is audible at the property line of the business between 2:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m.
Source: 1992 Code Section 10-5-4; Ord. 031023-13; Ord. 031211-11.
§ 9-2-5 RESTRICTION ON USE OF SOUND EQUIPMENT IN A RESIDENTIAL AREA.
(A) This section applies to property zoned as residential under Section 25-2-32(B) (Zoning Districts and Map Codes).
(B) A person may not use sound equipment that produces sound audible beyond the property line of a residence in a residential area between 10:00 p.m. and 10:00 a.m.
(C) A person may not use sound equipment audible beyond the property line of a residence in a residential area that produces sound in excess of 75 decibels.
Source: 1992 Code Section 10-5-5; Ord. 031023-13; Ord. 031211-11.
Charles R. Samuels
Mr. Samuels did not provide any documentation to support his representation that a municipality produced a sound map of the entire jurisdiction for use in the municipality’s noise ordinance.
Mr. Samuels did not provide any documentation to support his representation that the Austin, Texas, noise ordinance sets 80 decibels as the standard limit in residential districts. Both of the regulations cited by Mr. Samuels only apply to “sound equipment.” The 85 decibel limit only applies to businesses. Mr. Samuels also failed to mention that both sections are exceptions to the general Austin regulation:
§ 9-2-1 DEFINITIONS.
(4) NOISE means sound which:
(a) is louder than that permitted in this chapter, or
(b) disturbs a reasonable person of normal sensibilities.
Conclusion: Mr. Samuels misrepresented the facts.
|….11-2|….
August 9, 2011
The Honorable Charles Samuels
Re: Ordinance No. 2011-119. Sound Regulation
Dear Honorable Council Member,
Please tell me the name of the municipality you said you found that produced a sound map of the entire jurisdiction for use in the municipality’s noise ordinance.
Also, please tell me the section of the the Austin, Texas, noise ordinance you said you found that sets 80 decibels as the standard limit in residential districts.
Sincerely yours,
City Hall Review
r1102;
August 6, 2011
The Honorable Bruce Tyler
Re: Ord. No. 2011-119 – Sound Control – 30 Municipalities
Dear Honorable Council Member,
Please give me the names of the 30 municipalities whose noise ordinances Mr. Samuels said you examined in greater detail at the noise ordinance work group meetings.
Sincerely yours,
C. Wayne Taylor
City Hall Review
r1102;
To: Ali, Lou B. – Clerk’s Office
Citizens of Richmond should be treated as well as city inmates. The standards for the proposed jail include maximum sound levels much lower than those in the proposed sound regulation ordinance. Read the rest of this entry »
CITY OF RICHMOND SECTION B – PERFORMANCE CRITERIA
RICHMOND CITY JAIL Part 2 – Basis of Design Read the rest of this entry »