Berkeley County noise ordinance doesn’t apply to lawn care

Berkeley County implemented a countywide noise ordinance last month. The last time the ordinance had been updated was 2009.

 

The change comes on the heels of the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) receiving multiple citizen complaints concerning noise violations in various communities. 

 

The newly adopted ordinance lists several types of noises, including radios, televisions, percussion instruments, loudspeakers, construction, repairing, or demolition of buildings, yelling or shouting, vehicle exhaust or vehicle defect, fireworks, gunshots or any other loud or unnatural noise that would be a discomfort to any residence. For clarification, this does not apply to lawn equipment, such as leaf blowers for example.    

 

“This is a countywide ordinance intended to give the sheriff’s office an enforceable tool regarding true noise disturbances. This is not intended to address everyday noises, such as lawn equipment,” said County Councilman Josh Whitley, who represents the Daniel Island area.

 

Noise, as defined by the revised ordinance, is “any sound that is either loud, boisterous, unpleasant, unreasonable or that causes a disturbance of the public peace.”  

 

The sheriff’s office wasn’t the only governing entity that fielded complaints about noise grievances. The Daniel Island Property Owners Association (DIPOA) did as well.  

 

DIPOA president Jane Baker noted that she conferred with Berkeley County and was informed that all residential lawn equipment is permissible countywide, including on Daniel Island, during reasonable hours of activity.

 

The ordinance notes that construction noise is permissible between the hours of 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. on the weekdays and from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on the weekends. Normal residential noise is permitted between 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.

 

Technically, there is no specific time frame that lawn equipment can or cannot be operated in one’s yard any given day of the week. However, Baker said that the DIPOA follows the same reasonable daytime hours as construction, which is essentially from dawn to dusk.

 

Baker noted that the DIPOA is committed to using more sustainable lawn equipment in common areas. One of their contracted landscapers, The Greenery, is striving to operate 75% of electric and non-gas powered equipment by the end of 2023. 

 

“We will not overreach with the ordinance but instead we hope to improve our citizens’ quality of life,” BCSO Sheriff Duane Lewis released in a statement. “Deputies will enforce the noise ordinance but will simultaneously protect everyone’s constitutional rights.”