Mountain House Municipal Code Ch. 2 Amplification of Sound

(a) "Chief of Police" means the City Manager or the City Manager's designee.

(b) "Person." The word "person" as used herein shall include the singular and the plural and shall also mean and include any person, firm, corporation, association, club, partnership, society, or any other form of association or organization.

(c) "Sound Truck." The words "sound truck" as used herein shall mean any vehicle having any sound amplifying equipment mounted thereon, attached thereto, or contained therein, or used therefrom.

(d) "Sound Amplifying Equipment." The words "sound amplifying equipment" as used herein shall mean any machine or device, including portable devices, for amplification of the human voice, music, or any other sound. "Sound amplifying equipment" as used herein shall include both stationary and mobile equipment; shall not be construed as including standard automobile radios when used and heard only by occupants of the vehicle in which installed or warning devices on authorized emergency vehicles or horns or other warning devices on other vehicles used only for traffic safety purposes; nor shall it be construed as including mobile or stationary sound amplifying or producing equipment used exclusively for commercial or noncommercial purposes in connection with the exhibitions of, or participation in, outdoor sports such as baseball, football, horseracing, motorcycle racing, et cetera, designed for use at the location where such sport is taking place for the benefit of the spectators and participants; nor shall it be construed as including mobile or stationary sound amplifying or producing equipment used exclusively for commercial or noncommercial purposes in indoor places which customarily use sound equipment for the events therein contained.

(Ord. 2024-24, § 1(Exh. A), 2024)

(a) Registration Required. No person shall use, or cause to be used, a sound truck with its sound amplifying equipment in operation for non-commercial purposes in the City before filing a registration statement with the Community Services Director. The registration statement shall be filed in duplicate and shall state the following:

(1) Name and home address of the applicant.

(2) Address and place of business of applicant.

(3) License number of the sound truck to be used by applicant.

(4) Name and address of person who owns the sound equipment.

(5) Name and address of person having direct charge of sound equipment.

(6) A statement as to the location in which the sound truck or equipment will be used.

(7) The proposed hours of operation of the sound truck or sound equipment.

(8) The number of days of proposed operation of the sound truck or sound equipment.

(9) A general description of the type of event or events at which the sound amplification equipment is proposed to be used.

(10) A general description of the sound amplifying equipment which is to be used.

(11) The maximum sound producing power of the sound amplifying equipment to be used in or on the sound truck. State the following:

(a) The wattage to be used in last stage of amplification.

(b) The volume in decibels of the sound which will be produced.

(c) The approximate maximum distance for which sound will be thrown from the sound truck.

(b) Registration Statement Amendment. All persons using or causing to be used sound trucks or other sound amplifying equipment for non-commercial purposes shall amend any registration statement filed pursuant to Subsection (a) within a forty-eight (48) hour period after any change in the information therein furnished.

(c) Registration and Identification. The Community Development Director shall promptly return to each applicant under Subsection (a), one copy of said registration statement duly certified by the Community Development Director as a correct copy of said application. A copy of said registration statement shall be forwarded to the Chief of Police. Said certified copy of the application shall be in the possession of any person operating the sound truck at all times while the sound truck's sound amplifying equipment is in operation, and said copy shall be promptly displayed and shown to any peace officer within the City.

(d) Regulations for Use. Non-commercial use of sound trucks and stationary sound equipment in the City with sound amplifying equipment in operation shall be subject to the following regulations:

(1) The only sound permitted are music or human speech.

(2) Permitted hours of operation are between 8:00 a.m. and 12:01 p.m. and between 1:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.

(3) Amplified sound shall not be audible within five hundred (500) feet of hospitals, schools, churches or courts while they are in session.

(4) The volume of sound may in no circumstances be audible from a distance of more than five hundred (500) feet from the sound truck or other sound amplifying equipment and must at all times be controlled so as to comply with the following maximum allowable ratios of range of audibility to distance between source of sound and any dwelling or any place where animals are kept for commercial purposes, if such animals would be deleteriously affected by a greater volume of sound:

The occupants of any dwelling or the owners of any animals may consent in writing to a less distant operation of sound equipment than that specified herein.

(5) Notwithstanding any other provisions herein, no registrant or agent thereof may operate a sound truck or other sound amplifying equipment for more than 90 minutes per day within one geographical area of audibility.

(6) No sound amplifying equipment shall be operated with in excess of fifteen watts of power in the last stage of amplification.

(7) Sound amplification equipment shall not be used to broadcast threats of personal injury or threats of damage to or destruction of property.

(e) Fees. The fee for the license hereinbefore provided shall be five dollars ($5.00) for the first day and one dollar ($1.00) for each day thereafter.

(Ord. 2024-24, § 1(Exh. A), 2024)

(a) License Required. No person shall operate or cause to be operated any sound truck or other sound amplifying equipment in the City for commercial advertising purposes with sound amplifying equipment in operation unless a license has been obtained from the Community Development Director. The fee for said license shall be ten dollars ($10.00) per day.

(b) Application for License. Person applying for the license required under Subsection (a) shall file with the Community Development Director an application in writing giving in said application the information required in the registration statement under Section 6-2-201 of this ordinance, and in addition the following information:

(1) Names and addresses of all persons who will use or operate the sound truck or stationary sound equipment.

(2) The purpose for which the sound truck or sound equipment will be used.

(c) Issuance of License. The Community Development Director shall issue a license under Subsection (a) of this ordinance upon payment of the required license fee unless the application required in Subsection (b) reveals that the applicant will violate the regulations prescribed in Section 6-2-201 or the provisions of some other existing City ordinance or state law.

(d) Possession and Display of License. The licensee shall keep said license in his possession on the sound truck or sound equipment during the time the sound amplifying equipment is in operation. The license shall be promptly displayed and shown to any peace officer or City official upon request.

(e) Regulations for Use. No person shall operate or cause to be operated any sound truck or sound equipment for commercial sound advertising purposes in violation of the regulations set forth in Sections 6-2-201 and 6-2-202.

(f) Additional Regulations for Sound Trucks. Sound truck amplifying equipment shall not be operated for commercial purposes unless the sound truck upon which such equipment is mounted is operated at a speed of at least ten miles per hour except when said truck is stopped or impeded by traffic. Where stopped by traffic, the said sound amplifying equipment shall not be operated for longer than one minute at each such stop.

(Ord. 2024-24, § 1(Exh. A), 2024)

Notwithstanding compliance with the foregoing provisions, use of sound amplifying equipment for the dissemination of material that is slanderous, obscene, disturbing to the public peace, or that constitutes a nuisance or an incitement to riot may be punished under the provisions of other City ordinances or state and federal laws.

(Ord. 2024-24, § 1(Exh. A), 2024)

Any person who violates any provision of this chapter shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be fined not exceeding five hundred dollars ($500.00) or be imprisoned not more than ninety (90) days, or both.

(Ord. 2024-24, § 1(Exh. A), 2024)