 editorial, Fri, July 24th, 2009 The public rarely notices when the right thing is done in half-measures. Last week, the Colonie Town Board did right by its citizens by adopting a more stringent noise ordinance than the town previously had on the books. The ordinance, passed at the Thursday, July 16, Town Board meeting, provides for an enforceable limit of 65 decibels from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. from Sunday to Thursday, and 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. on Friday and Saturday. The town’s previous ordinance had the decibel level at 75, and the new ordinance originally had the noise curfew at 11 p.m. on weekdays. Despite the drop in decibel level and the last-minute amendment to change the weeknight curfew to 10 p.m., residents came away from the meeting disappointed. It’s understandable. The public wanted a level of 60 decibels — and had it for a while. The town, after conferring with police and other concerned parties, raised the limit back to 65, with a caveat: We will come back and examine the effectiveness of the law after six months. Many citizens asked the question we at The Spotlight are asking now: Why not favor the lower decibel level and reexamine that in six months? Whether it was its intention or not, the Town Board gave the impression that the town favored those who would exceed the decibel limit over those who abide by it. Public satisfaction, a lot like noise, is a matter of degrees. And, much like decibels, a concerned constituency’s reaction can be logarithmic in nature. The difference between the noise of conversation and the level of noise at which sustained exposure may result in hearing loss is much more than a simply stated 30 decibels. So too is the difference between levels of dissatisfaction on the part of the people. Those five decibels — the ones the town decided to add back to the limit — are the difference between a constituency that walks away from the microphone at a Town Board meeting with the confidence that the town has their best interests in mind and the constituency that walks away from the microphone looking to make a change in November. CATEGORY: General Society
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