Council decides not to amend noise ordinance

The city council held a public hearing about modifying the city’s noise ordinance in regard to commercial landscape service providers’ work in residential areas on June 8.

On May 19 the city sent a letter to area landscaping business owners asking for feedback on the city possibly increasing the restricted period of operation, limiting the number of simultaneous operators of gasoline-powered equipment and requiring commercial lawn maintenance providers to use newer, quieter model equipment.

Bryan Lord, president of Blackjack Horticulture and a Mountain Brook resident, and Paul Lell, manager for Green Landscaping and a Mountain Brook resident, both wrote to the city to express their concerns about the proposed changes and how they might harm their business.

The current ordinance restricts commercial mechanically powered lawn equipment from operation between 6 p.m. and 7 a.m. on weekdays and 6 p.m. and 8 a.m. on weekends. It was adopted in June 2014.

At the end of the hearing, the council determined to not make any changes to the noise ordinance.