Medina won’t pursue new noise ordinance

Loud situations can be handled with disorderly conduct law

MEDINA – The Village Board has decided against pursuing a new local ordinance for noise, saying the issue can best be resolved with discretion of police officers who could instead issue disorderly conduct tickets.

Otherwise the village police should have sound meters to measure decibel levels, and would lose some subjectivity in assessing the situations.

Village Trustee Mark Prawel, a retired Medina police officer, said he faced noise complaints as an officer. He typically handled them with disorderly conduct charges if he felt a ticket was warranted. There is already a state law for noise levels in neighborhoods.

Mayor Marguerite Sherman said a local law could “open up a can of worms” with unintended consequences, such as putting the marching band and fireworks displays in a threshold where tickets could be issued.

Trustee Jess Marciano was looking into a noise ordinance. She said some clear parameters would provide clarification on a sometimes murky situation. But she said she respects the feelings of the board members.

Prawel said a local noise ordinance would be a hinderance for the police officers.

“The go-to (in these situations) is the disorderly conduct law,” he said.