Evolving community noise ordinances in central Florida

Abstract

This paper describes recent occurrences of noise ordinance overhauls in central Florida for the City of Winter Springs and Hillsborough County, Florida. In each case, the existing Lmax based ordinances had proven over the years to be ineffective and were not serving their communities. These noise ordinances were similar to many found across the U.S. but were not reliable methods of determining community noise violators that warranted action. This paper explains the methodology used to produce a “performance based” noise ordinance that meets the needs of both the community and local personnel responsible for enforcement.