MERCER COUNTY Hermitage officials mull noise rule
Commissioners felt the proposed new ordinance language is just too broad.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
HERMITAGE, Pa. -- City commissioners aren't ready to rewrite the municipal noise control ordinance to permit ice cream trucks to play their loudspeakers in residential districts.
The law bans the amplification of sound for commercial purposes in residential areas, and the driver of an ice cream truck that plays tunes that can be heard several blocks way said the law has severely hampered his business in the city.
William McCowin of Sharon showed up at a commissioners meeting in May asking for some relief in the matter, and the city agreed to take another look at the ordinance.
McCowin's business is primarily in the residential areas. He said he didn't have any problem playing his music to attract customers in other municipalities in the county.
Possible change
City Manager Gary Hinkson told the commissioners at a work session Thursday that Thomas Kuster, city solicitor, had come up with a possible change in the ordinance that would allow the amplification of sound for commercial purposes or the attracting of the public to any activity in residential areas between the hours of noon and 8 p.m. daily.
That prompted some debate about just what type of amplifications would be allowed.
Hinkson said it would mean that any amplification for commercial purposes or to attract the public to a specific event or activity would be permitted, not just ice cream trucks.
Commissioner Pat White thought the whole issue was becoming too complicated.
"Why can't we just exempt ice cream trucks?" he asked.
Atty. Richard Epstein, filling in for Kuster, said that might create a problem with discrimination. Vendors of products other than ice cream might challenge the city for the right to use loudspeakers to sell their wares in residential areas, he said.
Police chief's stance
Commissioner Larry Gurrera asked Police Chief Edward Stanton what he thought of the issue.
"I don't like ice cream trucks, period," Stanton replied, suggesting they pose a safety concern.
"I don't like kids chasing them down the street," he said.
Other commissioners thought the proposal as written by Kuster is too broad.
Hinkson said he will give it back to the solicitor to look at again.
A problem with boomboxes prompted the city to initially look at enacting a noise control ordinance. Those would still be banned under Kuster's suggestion, unless they were being used for commercial purposes or to attract the public to a specific activity, Hinkson said.
In other matters, the commissioners voted to name Gurrera vice president of the board until the next reorganizational meeting in January.
The post had been held by Sylvia Stull, but she was named board president after the recent death of Commissioner William Scanlon, who had held that title.