Noise Ordinance is NOT Enforced in Snow Camp
On June 20, 2022, the Alamance Board of Commissioners voted to modify Alamance County’s Noise Ordinance with the intent to make it more clear and easier to enforce. Members of the Snow Camp community were present to provide feedback on the revisions to the Ordinance, and to express their concern about noise from the new quarry in their community. It seemed that there was the understanding, from this meeting, that the Noise Ordinance would be revised to limit “unreasonable noise” from industrial operations to the hours of 7-5 Monday through Friday.
The revised Noise Ordinance states the following:
1-Unreasonably loud, disturbing and unnecessary noise shall be unlawful between the hours of 11:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. Sunday through Thursday, and midnight to 6:00 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
2-Section 7.14 says the following noise is an exception to the provisions of the Ordinance: “Normal sounds associated with or customary to properly permitted industrial or manufacturing operations in the normal course of business, and within normal operating hours for such industrial or manufacturing operations, provided loud and unreasonable noise, as defined in Section 6, coming from industrial or manufacturing operations on Saturdays and Sundays, or before 7 a.m. or after 5 p.m. Monday-Friday may constitute a violation of this ordinance.”
It appears that Alamance Aggregates quarry in Snow Camp has been operating late in the evenings and on weekends. The rock-grinding noise from the quarry is extremely loud, incessant, and can be heard from miles away. The rock-grinding continues after 5:00 p.m. and on the weekends. Wouldn’t this noise be considered “unreasonable”, and a violation of the Noise Ordinance? If not, what is the meaning of Section 7.14? The Facebook page for Alamance Aggregates shows their hours to be: Monday through Friday 7 AM – 5 PM, Saturday 7 AM – 12 PM, Sunday: CLOSED. Those hours may indicate when their gates are open, but the rock-crushing and unreasonable noise continue outside these hours.
There are over 100 homes within a one-mile radius of the quarry. Since there is no zoning in Alamance County, would these homes not be considered “residential structures” or to be in a “neighborhood”, terms used in the Noise Ordinance to describe people who deserve “peace and quiet”? Residents of Snow Camp have been under the impression that they were protected from the quarry’s noise by the County’s Noise Ordinance. Those who call and complain to the Sheriff’s department are told that the quarry is not in violation of the Noise Ordinance until after 11:00 pm, or that the noise is not “unreasonable”. A lot of effort from the community and County government went into revising the Noise Ordinance. Why is it not enforced?
posted anonymously by request of the author