Bob Davis is circulating a petition to get the town's selectman to enforce our new Noise Ordinance. Below is a copy of his petition;
This introductory letter is to inform you about myself. As you may know, last spring I went door to door in neighborhoods that were affected by the loud noise of the racetracks, to ask for signatures and your support, on a petition to ask the town selectman to enforce the noise ordinance that was passed by the voters in 2001. In my attempts to get them to do this, they informed me that the ordinance was unenforceable. So I returned to the Selectman’s meetings, time and time again until my perseverance finally paid off. A new Noise Ordinance was drafted and passed by the voters in March of 2008. Now I am asking you, if you will commit yourselves in joining me, in supporting the enforcement of this new Noise Ordinance. With a new petition of names in hand, I will ask the Selectman to enforce the ordinance and make the racetracks significantly reduce their noise. If this fails, I will then call everyone who showed an interest to set up a meeting and at that time ask all to decide if we should go forward and look into filing a legal action to force the town to comply. If we do decide to proceed, we should then organize a committee. I have spoken with the law firm of Rath, Young and Pignatelli, who represented a group of citizens from Tamworth, NH who organized and called themselves the “Focus Group”. They formed to fight the noise of a racetrack in their community .. and won. This law firm has the experience and legal know how and I believe that their outline of the “Enforcement of the Winchester Noise Ordinance” is the right way to proceed if it comes down to it. I have spent a lot of my own money and time, in my efforts to get this far. I know I can not afford to continue this fight alone. I strongly believe a united front will persuade the selectman to act. Therefore; I am asking you for your help and support and to join me if you want to try and do something about this noise situation. We are not going to try to put them out of business, we just want them to adhere to the noise ordinance and the will of the people. If there is no interest to support my efforts, then you will not hear from me again on this matter. This is a one time plea to join me in trying to make Winchester a better place for all. I thank you all in advance for your support.
You can contact me by calling 239-7299.
Bob Davis
We'd ask that everyone in favor of a quieter Winchester to please get in touch with Bob and sign his petition and show your support by attending the meeting with him when he presents his petition.
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6 comments:
For those of us who live within earshot of the town’s race tracks, the noise is an unbearable burden on our lives on race day. I’m sure that even race car fans, if they lived in our nearby neighborhoods would have difficulty accepting these extremely high noise levels every summer weekend.
We'd like to suggest that there is a very practical compromise. We now have an enforceable noise ordinance in town, voted in this past March. The Town could simply impose a strict noise limit for the tracks of 90db for example. This is the equivalent to the noise level of truck traffic on a highway. Note that US OSHA Daily Permissible Noise Level Exposure is 90dBs for eight hours and the 90-95 dB range, is the level at which sustained exposure might result in hearing loss. For comparison, normal conversation is at 60-70dBs.Die-hard race drivers will not relish the idea of somewhat silencing their cars; but technology does exist by which the vehicle noise can be significantly reduced with very little impact on the performance of the vehicle. An appropriate silencer could satisfy both sides to this issue and the expense would be minimal for those weekend racers, compared with the complications of legal battles.If nothing else, think of those sitting in the stands with their children unknowingly submitting them to what could possibly become a health issue for them in the future.
Mr. Davis approached the selectmen this past Wednesday night and brought this matter to their attention. He still needs your support and while waiting to see what action the board may/or may not take, he is still actively taking manes on his petition.
Good luck trying to get Leroy to enforce anything. As for going to the selectman, all you'll get is a "thank you for your comments" " we'll look into it" and then nothing gets done. I've dealt with these people a few times and it's the same old story; unless you're part of their little group you'll get nowhere.
There was no decision on this subject at last night's meeting, nor was the subject ever brought up for discussion. I don't understand why it is so hard for a group of elected officials, who swore to protect the citizens of town and act in our best interest, to make an informed decision based on facts; especially when it affects so many and they are well aware of the numerous complaints over the years. What good is a noise ordinance if it won't be enforced?
We received an email from a Westport Village Road resident who told us that he had filed a complaint with Amy Lewis in the Selectman's office several weeks ago about loud noise and a dangerous unsupervised activity going on across the street from his residence. His letter, with pictures, described another outdoor moto-cross track on the property beside the Topline Autobody Shop on Keene Road, where kids and adults were riding four-wheelers and dirt bikes every evening and nearly all day every weekend, both Saturdays and Sundays until dark. The constant drone of these engines, the letter states is very annoying and disrupts the peace and quiet of this rural neighborhood. He begrudges no one having fun; but being subjected to this noise every evening and all weekend long is a bit too much. We should also mention this resident has health issues and recently had surgery and is under a doctors care and requires rest to get well. In his letter he also questions the safety of this unsupervised activity on this property and asks if the owner has the permission from the town for this. He's informed us that he has received neither a phone call, nor a written response to his letter, nor did we find any mention of his complaint in the minutes of any board meetings. Just recently a young rider on a four wheeler sustained serious injuries and was life flighted to the hospital for riding on land off Richmond Road, unsupervised. Once again we ask, why have a law, no one is willing to enforce? We would welcome a response from any board member.
Still no response from the board or any notification that they even acknowledge that this was a probem they were looking into. What good does it do to have a process if it's not followed and there's no regard for citizen complaints?
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