Pittsburgh Code
The following link goes to a PDF of chapter 601 of the Pittsburgh municipal code, as of 2006 March 13.
pittsburghcode-ch601-20060313.pdf
It seems section 601.04(d)(1) (page 4) says a person's in-home noise cannot be louder than 10dBC (day) or 5dBC (night) above the nominal ambient background noise level of a neighboring residence.
Further, section 601.04(h) states any noise measurement must be performed with a device conforming to the Type 1 or Type 2 specification defined in ANSI S1.4.
Given these two pieces of information, it seems I should be able to justify accusing my neighbor of being loud if I measure his noise to be above those limits with an approved measurement device.
Then, pursuant to section 601.04(d)(2), an officer will stand in a centralized location in my condo and measure the noise to verify my findings.
If the officer does, indeed, verify my findings, then it seems section 601.04(i)(1) will apply, and my neighbor will be fined by the city. According to section 601.14(a), this fine must be at least $15 plus court costs.
Would some of you mind reading the document and telling me if my analysis makes sense?
More of the Pittsburgh code can be found here.
Comments
I have read the Pittsburgh municipal code that you referenced. I think your analysis is sound. I believe your interpretation of the code to be correct. I think you are going to have a challenge, though. In order for this whole thing to work, the policeman or woman has to be inside your apartment measuring the noise decibels while the music is blasting. When the police person pulls up in a squad car and parks outside your building, the first thing that jerkface (JF) is going to do is turn off the music. I don't know if JF has a front-facing window to where he would be able to notice any squad cars pulling up outside your building, but if he does, he certainly would take action to turn off the stereo. So when he turns off the music right as the squad car pulls up, there will be nothing for the police to measure, and hence, you won't have a case.
It seems to me that the only way for the whole thing to work is to have the police inside your apartment without JF knowing that the police have even arrived. Maybe they could park around the corner or something. Because if they park right in front of your building, he will surely notice and turn off the music before the police have a chance to measure it.
I don't know....just my two cents.
Posted by: arc | March 15, 2006 09:20 AM
getting pretty obsessive about this huh?
Posted by: tlt | March 15, 2006 06:14 PM
I suspect you'd be obsessive too if you were in Colin's place right now to witness the floor vibrate. At least Dorian seems to be taking it well.
Posted by: Katy | March 15, 2006 07:46 PM