The Town Council unanimously decided to take no action on proposed changes to the town’s noise ordinance at its Oct. 6 regular session.

Councilman Dennis Brown made the motion to table the proposal saying he would like the council to get its own information and discuss it during a future study session.

Both the council and the Planning and Zoning Commission relied on information gathered by a committee formed in 2010, as well as information from two sides of a dispute that developed earlier this spring over events at the CopperWynd Resort.

The P&Z Commission had been split 3-2 on advancing to the council a recommendation to approve the proposal.

“The town should do its own testing and make the right decision for the community,” Brown said.

The proposed ordinance would remove all noise regulation from the Zoning Ordinance and consolidate it into a section of the Town Code.

The proposal has complaints evaluated based on decibel levels using decibel meters to verify the sound level. Measurements would be taken at two locations – one 30 feet from the source of the noise, and the second at the exterior wall of the complainant’s location facing the sound source.

Staff had established a max reading of 85 decibels 30 feet from the source, and 55 decibels at the complainant’s location. The measurement would have to exceed the standard at both locations for it to be a violation.

Mike Dickerson, a consultant hired by CopperWynd Resort to examine the impact of event noise on the neighbors, provided his report to the council.

Dickerson agreed that the two-part verification is crucial to measuring the impact. He added that cell phone apps should not be used but specialized decibel meters should be used to make the measurements.

Dickerson noted that this is expensive equipment, but at the request of Brown provided information on a vendor who may be able to supply discounted apparatus.

“We agree with the code as it is written, and support the two-step process to verify complaints,” Dickerson said.

Scott Carpenter, an attorney with a firm hired by the Villas at CopperWynd Association, disagreed with Dickerson’s point of view.

“This is not about CopperWynd, but what is in the best interest of the entire town,” Carpenter said. “Let’s talk science. Eighty-five decibels is deafening. If it is 85 decibels at 30 feet away, it is 115 at the source.”

Carpenter and his associate, Mark Stahl, provided a demonstration in council chambers of what just 75 decibels sounds like.

Carpenter said the two-part test is unnecessary and that is why no other municipalities use such a standard.

“This (ordinance) appears to be constructed to make it too difficult to enforce, requiring two people to do the test,” Carpenter said.

“We need this, and I want it to be balanced and fair,” Councilman Henry Leger said. “The two-tiered system poses some issues for me.

“Why are the decibel standards higher than the existing (ordinance), why are they higher than neighboring communities?

“When the downtown is developed (mixed use) this will raise even more questions, how are you going to do this on the Avenue?”

Mayor Linda Kavanagh said she lives where she can hear the announcements at the high school as plainly as if she were on campus. She also hears the band practicing each morning.

“This is just the way sound travels,” Kavanagh said. “I’m not going to ask the high school to stop making announcements or the band to stop practicing.”

As for the downtown, Kavanagh said individuals moving in should take some individual responsibility when they make their decision, and understand the potential conflicts with mixed use development.

Councilwoman Cassie Hansen said she believes the decision is a little premature.

“I appreciate the demonstration we received,” Hansen said. “I’ve been asked why we are raising (decibel standard), and I can’t answer that.

“I would really like some hard data to consider.

“To say people shouldn’t move somewhere is counterproductive, I believe.”

Leger said he is very sensitive to business and wants to see the downtown developed.

“As a business owner I would be concerned about whether MorningStar or Copper Ridge (proposed) would accept this.”

Town Manager Grady Miller said he would get together with staff to determine how to collect the information the council is asking for, and schedule a work session to go over it as soon as it is possible.